In Hyderabad, Nishumbita and Sutradhar’s special productions for World Theatre Day 

Nishumbita will be staging 27 plays in 24 hours, while Sutradhar will be wooing the audiences with a social drama

After two years of losing out on performing to a live audience, Hyderabad theatre groups are gearing up to host real-time events to commemorate World Theatre Day on March 27 this year. Nishumbita will be staging 27 plays over 24 hours and Sutradhar will present a Hindi play. Here is what theatre lovers can expect:

“Everyone knows that theatre groups had a tough time during the pandemic. We wanted this World Theatre Day to be special and make people sit up and take note of our innovative format,” says Rammohan Holagundi, founder of Nishumbita. The event titled ‘Theatre Yagna’ will see the group stage 27 plays in 24 hours.  The initiative marks Nishumbita’s completion of 27 years in theatre.

The team includes more than 30 children and 40 adults and young adults. “We will be staging 20 new plays and some of our earlier productions. It has been a Herculean task. But the eagerness to attempt something unique and put Hyderabad on the world theatre map keeps us motivated,” explains Holagundi.

The line-up comprises seven Telugu plays (7a.m. to 1p.m.), children’s plays (1p.m. to 6p.m.), English plays (6p.m. to 11p.m.) and Hindi plays (11p.m. to 4.a.m) and mime acts. 

The thrust, says Holagundi, was to choose stories that deal with social issues. He believes that theatre can be a medium that can make the audiences think and, maybe, trigger a change.

The group conducted a dry run on March 12 and staged plays for 20 hours. On March 27, the group plans to stage the various plays consecutively, with barely a few minutes allowance to change the sets. 

Nishumbita is hopeful of having its 24-hour event find a mention in the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records.