· Groups from Delhi, Lucknow, Ahmednagar and Mumbai make it to finale at Thespo 19
· Workshops by International theatre exponents from Greece, Brazil, UK and US, along with Kids Workshop by Hippo Theatre International troupe
· Daily Live Music Performances by Mumbai and Bengaluru based Music Groups
· Life Time Achievement Award to Dr. Mohan Agashe for his incredible contribution to theatre in the field of acting and promoting Children's theatre
Mumbai, 11th Dec 2017:
Thespo, India's home-grown youth theatre movement has grown from a one-day event in 1999 to a year round programme training, recognising and promoting quality youth talent in the performing arts. As always, this culminates in the week-long pan-Indian massive youth theatre festival each December! The platform has now grown in leaps n bounds just like any homegrown league going international in a way! This year there are groups like Islampur in Sangli to Lucknow coming forward with teams, blended with the curated line up of International theatre exponents from US, Greece, UK and Brazil.
The journey of Thespo continues after its 18 successful years, and this year is no different with women directors, untold stories from small cities and the flavour of regional theatre at upcoming Thespo 19! The festival is all set for the 19th edition with new plays, performances, workshops and more for the theatre lovers. In its 19th Edition, Thespo organized by QTP and Theatre Group Bombay, is more enriching and grand. Thespo 19 will be held at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai, from 18th Dec to 24th Dec 2017. As part of the Thespo 19 line up there will be various forms of stage plays, theatre workshops, candid performances, mono acts, music gigs, recitation of both prose and poetry along with interactive sessions as a part of the week-long festival which will end on December 24, 2017.
This year, Thespo 19 received registrations from 17 cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Nagpur, Islampur (Sangli), Udupi, Lucknow, Ahmednagar, Jaipur, Baroda, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Islamabad (Pakistan). Total registrations amounting to 182, which includes 141 plays and 41 Platform performances across the country made this a lively and empowering experience for the team at Thespo. Also, the multilingual plays like, English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Awadhi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindustani, Haryanavi, Spanish, Kannada and Telugu added more flavour to the selection process by raising the regional theatre quotient of the movement.
At the finale, Thespo 19 will thus showcase, 4 best plays for the Full length Play category. Also, 5 best Platform Performance were selected. One of the plays, Vairangi’s Mrig-Trishna (19th & 20th Dec 2017) from Delhi is about Noori, who has been abandoned by society for being a eunuch, who heads off in her search for an ‘ultimate truth'. Another finalist play from Lucknow is Karooj Theatre Group’s Main Mera Baaja Aur Woh (21st Dec 2017) is about Bhuvlan who repairs electronics. One day he hears a voice on the radio. The voice reminds him of his estranged wife. What follows is a hilarious tale of unrequited affections, unanswered letters, and competition with his young son for his imagined love affection. Another play, Nirmiti Rangmanch’s Khataara, (22nd Dec 2017) from Ahmednagar is about a village which is developing and changing according to the world. The fourth play which has made it to the festival is Actomers’s Trikonka Chautha Kon? (23rd Dec 2017) from Mumbai about plagiarism; Rajnandi is accused of it, and so she confronts the other two authors who are supposed to have written the story before her.
Thespo 19 also boasts of an interesting line up of fifteen different performances, from live acoustic music gigs, to revolutionary 'fringe' performances, to the short outdoor platform performances.
The 7-day long festival also has something for those who want to learn more about theatre, with 8 different types of theatre workshops (Starting from Rs. 300) like, Starting With Me, Magic Hour, Off The Screen, Backstage Ninjas, Some Work and All Play, Kinemo-Moving with Feeling, Becoming Someone, Island Of Feelings and Hippo Theatre for Kids by eminent National and International artists like, Jess Thorpe, Tashi Gore, Arghya Lahiri, Matthew Wasser, Karl Alphonso, Renato Rocha, Alexandros Raptis, Sissy Ignatidou and Alyque Padamsee for the ones who wish to learn acting and wanting to gain knowledge about theatre.
On the last day, 24th Dec 2017 at the Little Theatre, NCPA, the festival awards will be announced along with the Lifetime achievement Award. This year Thespo 19 will be honoring eminent actor Dr. Mohan Agashe with Lifetime Achievement Award for his fantabulous achievement and contribution to theatre industry. Dr. Agashe, apart from being a tour-de-force on stage, has also been instrumental in developing GRIPS theatre for Children in India, and has furthered the career of many Pune based artists.
About Thespo:
Thespo (Started in 1999) is a platform for any and every young person under 25 who is interested in any and all aspects of theatre. Except for the age limit, Thespo firmly believes in including youth from all parts of the world, all fields, all language groups and all art forms who share a love for theatre. Over the last eighteen years it has grown from a one-evening event to a year round movement comprising of an annual Festival, monthly shows at Prithvi Theatre, theatre training programmes, workshops, site-specific performances and much more for young theatre enthusiasts. The festival will start from 18th Dec to 24th Dec 2017, features full length plays, platform performances, fringe performances and live music too. There's also all day activities like diverse workshops, theatre games, readings and even a museum! With exciting stuff to do all day, Thespo promises a week loaded with theatre.
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THESPO 19 - Plays
Date: 18th to 23rd Dec 2017
Time: 9pm
Venue: Prithvi Theatre, 20 Janki Kutir Juhu Church Road, Mumbai
THESPO 19: Workshops
Date: 18th to 23rd Dec 2017
Time: 10:00am onwards
Venue: Prithvi Theatre, 20 Janki Kutir Juhu Church Road, Mumbai
THESPO 19- Awards Night
Date: 24th Dec 2017
Time: 6.00pm Onwards
Venue: Little Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
Entry Free
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