New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) The Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) on Wednesday announced 10 nominations for its 18th edition, scheduled to begin from March 23.
Instituted by Mahindra Group, along with Teamwork Arts, the theatre festival selected 10 nominations of the received 395 entries for awards across 13 categories, including costume design, choreography, and original script.
It will be staged here at Kamani Auditorium.
Talking about this year’s nominations, actor Neena Kulkarni, who was also part of the selection committee, said that the festival celebrates the country’s diversity and inclusivity through such plays.
“From the northern belt to the eastern belt of India, like Assam, Manipur and Odisha, I have never seen this kind of theatre until now. It’s wonderful to watch these kinds of plays.Here you will see an abstract mixture of history, mythology, the absurd and the experimental, women empowerment, comedy and many more. The theatre of India is as diverse as our country is, which is a benchmark in itself,” Kulkarni said.
The nominated plays are: “Burn Out” (Assamese), “Chaai Garam” (Assamese/Baganiya/Gibberish), “Daklakatha Devikavya” (Kannada), “Hunkaro” (Marwadi/Hindi/Awadhi/Haryanvi), “Lavani ke Rang” (Hindi/Marathi), “Namak” (Hindi), “Notion(s): In Between You & Me” (English), “Nooramma: Biriyani Durbar” (Tamil), “The Departed Dawn” (non-verbal), and “Via Savargaon Khurd” (Marathi).
“In the selection process, we implemented inclusiveness in the works, the different kinds of experiences that are not normally foregrounded. In some of the plays, one will see some surprise packages that will be disarming in the way that these groups have risen in excellence,” playwright and stage critic Vikram Phukan said.
The selected plays explore diverse themes of the ancient Lavani art form and the community it has spawned, the struggle for survival amongst Tea tribals under the British Raj, the global refugee crisis, gender issues, Dalit oppression, rural politics, the politics of food, and the transgender community.
“META 2023 has lived up to the Mahindra Group’s annual promise of diversity and inclusion, spanning across a breadth of languages, themes and genres. We are delighted that the discerning Selection Committee, after 4 days of rigorous watching and careful consideration, has nominated ten productions that embrace and showcase excellence in stagecraft, and champion this art form that has been one of the world’s oldest and most powerful forms of artistic expression,” Jay Shah, vice president, head – cultural outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said.
The winners will be felicitated on March 29. PTI MAH MG MG
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