Power of vulnerability to drive 13 plays at KNMA's debut theatre festival

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI)The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) will open its inaugural theatre festival from October 14 with a total of 13 plays, based around the theme of 'The Power of Vulnerability', at Sunder Nursery here.

The KNMA Theatre Festival, curated by Bengaluru-based actor-director Kirtana Kumar, will focus on the role of contemporary theatre in addressing current societal vulnerabilities, including class, religion, location, gender, and sexuality.

The festival will open with the performance of "Beesu Kamsale", a ritualistic and acrobatic folk form in Kannada associated with the worship of Lord Malé Mahadeshwara, and practised by men of the Halu Kuruba community in the fields and forests around Chamarajanagar and Mandya, near Mysuru.

The performance will be led by M Lingaiah and presented by Karnataka Janapada Kamsale Kalavidara Sangha from Bengaluru.

The opening performance will be followed by "The Nights", a play by Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust that reimagines tales from "One Thousand and One Nights", commonly known as "Arabian Nights".

Talking about the upcoming festival, Kumar said that "among the provocations and ambiguities of contemporaneity" that drive the festival is to answer the call of vulnerability.

"...and to create platforms for voices, ideas, forms and people who are not always visible in the nation's gaze. Those that provoke us to think and set in motion the dominoes of our interrelatedness.

"The curation is cognizant of trends pan-nationally; of the shift to co-authorship, of 'non-actors' finding space in performance, of personal expression, of an increase in plays that are scaled down, feasible and mobile, of the lens of contemporaneity being cast even on traditional and folk forms," Kumar said.

The festival over the course of six days offers a range of performances, telling new stories, unpacking old ones and playing with form in innovative ways.

"Plays that unravel emerging sexuality discourses through intermedial performances such as 'Talki' and 'Project Darling' to a stand alone aural theatre performance such as 'Portal Waiting'," the curator added.

While "Be-Loved: Theatre, Music, Queerness & Ishq!" by Tamaasha Theatre explores queer love through theatre, music, poetry and movement; actor Savita Rani's solo performance draws on one woman's name, rage and journey of mowing through religion, region, caste, gender and race "Notion(s): In Between You and Me".

Another puppet show, "The Enchanted Walk", goes beyond the anthropocene and into the unseen and the unheard -- the world of insects and anthropods.

"As we move toward establishing dedicated performing arts spaces in our new museum, this festival represents our commitment to fostering a deeper connection between the arts and the community, enriching Delhi's cultural landscape in the process," KNMA chairperson and founder Kiran Nadar said in a statement.

Qabila theatre group's "wepushthesky", a solo performance by Nisha Abdullah, weaves together song, story, myth and history to talk about friendships using stories from the performer's life, community histories, as well as verses from the Mappila Ramayana and the story of Karbala.

While "Bhaagi Hui Ladkiyan" by Aagaaz Repertory explores the actors' gendered bodies and their relationship with the self, others and public spaces, using objects, physical theatre, and cartography; "Nazar Ke Saamne/Before Your Eyes" by Freeda Theatre is a collective expression of bodies that have endured caste and sexual violence.

Other performances during the KNMA theatre festival include "Love and Information" by NCPA in association with Aasakta, "Portal Waiting" by Abhi Tambe, "Talki Via Bengaluru" by Payana, "Project Darling" by Dramanon, and "Vali Vadha" by Theatre.

In addition, the festival will include workshops, lectures, and symposiums, fostering discussions among performance theorists, students, and practitioners.

Speakers at the symposium on the theme, 'The Power of Vulnerability', will include former NSD director Anuradha Kapur, actor Vivek Madan, director-pedagogue Abhilash Pillai, dramaturg and performance historian Amanda Culp, writer and cultural theorist Brahma Prakash, theatre practitioner Markus Kubesch and theatre director Deepan Sivaraman, among others.

The festival will come to an end on October 20. PTI MAH MAH MG MG