Dance, drama, dastangoi: It’s all at this free day-long fest in Mumbai

Mumbai group, Theatre People, completes 10 years with a day-long celebration of the stage. On offer is dance, drama, music, workshops and panels, all for free. Most events are scheduled at Bandra’s Corona Gardens and a few others at The Drama School in Girgaon.

“It’s a celebration of everything we’ve done over the years to help theatre in the city to flourish,” says Tasneem Fatehi, director of Theatre People.

Events kick off with workshops for kalaripayattu and yoga, along with storytelling and dastangoi sessions, which will be conducted by actor and storyteller Danish Hussain.

There are also panel discussions with theatre stalwarts such as Rajat Kapoor and Rajit Kapur, actors Faezeh Jalali and Geetanjali Kulkarni, moderated by radio jockeys Rohini Ramanathan and Hrishi K.

Among theatre performances, alumni of The Drama School will present the plays Adrak and Krishna Sandhaan. The latter is based on a conversation between Krishna and Duryodhana on what would happen if they were to avoid Mahabharata. The dialogues and setting are given a contemporary spin.

“It’ll be our third performance and we are excited to see how the audience reacts,” says Abhinav Grover who is part of the cast of Krishna Sandhaan. “We’ll have the chance to showcase all that we learnt in front of our teachers,” he adds.

In addition, there will be an improve comedy session by Improv Comedy Mumbai. Jessica Nicholas will present a dance recital. Amod Bhatt and the students of True School of Music will showcase music performances.

For children, there will be a puppet show, book reading and yoga sessions. There’s food and beer too, but for those you’ll have to finally pull out your wallet.