World theatre day: Bucket list for play lovers

Sangeet Devbhabli

The stage loves its audience and vice-a-versa. This World Theatre Day, we got Omkar Bhatkar, the writer of plays like Blue Storm, that was selected for the 2021 Asia Playwrights Theatre Festival, to list for us us, his top four favourite plays of all time. "These plays can be seen in theatres whenever they are back in production, but with technology, we see that many who love art, are accessing it through online portals like BBC play, etc," says Bhatkar. Here we go.

Sangeet Devbhabli by Prajakt Deshmukh

This Marathi Musical has many tales rolled into one and highlights the protagonist Avali's plights of deprivation and desertion, her conflict with her family. The play became famous due its seamless inclusion of the lyrical abhanga.
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Do you know this Song by Malika Taneja

In 2023, the play is made up of long pieces on loss and grief. The 75-minute play uses puppets, a harmonium and a microphone where in the author re-lives a past that keeps trying to speak to a present. The piece is an ode to the aria form of a song. The artist sings and invites people to join her.
bookmyshow.com

Scorched (Incendies) by Wajdi Mouawad

Originally French, translated in several languages, this oldie but goodie, was first seen at the Toronto Film Festival in 2010. This is about Canadian twins who travel to their mother's native country in Levant to uncover her hidden past amidst a bloody civil war. Though unnamed, the events in the play are inspired from the Lebanese Civil War and particularly the story of prisoner Souha Bechara.
justwatch.com

So Many Socks by Annie Zaidi

Kora by Tenzin Tsundue's has been brought to life by the Lucknow-born Mumbai journalist Annie Zaidi. It's about three generations of a family, all of which are stuck in their own versions of trauma. A pair of boots and many socks are all that accompany them on their journey to find a place that each can call "home".
vimeo.com