New Delhi : The National Capital Delhi has always been a pioneer in the field of art and culture with all the new programs, festivals, musical evenings etc. adds colors to a common man’s life. Amongst various musical, food and art & cultural festivals, Theater has strengthened its supremacy in the recent years that just not only entertained the people but also provided new opportunities for the budding artists. Keeping with the never dying magic of theater, Shri Ram Center has organized its annual theater festival ‘Panna Bharat Ram Theater Festival’ during the last week of passing year.

Began here on the Saturday (22nd December) evening, the festival will continue till December 28, where theater lovers will get a chance to celebrate throughout the week. True to the spirit of excellence and exploration in which it was conceived, ‘The Panna Bharat Ram Theater Festival’ is organized every year and brings well acclaimed, award winning productions along with great opening shows to its audience.

The week long festival began with a classic of contemporary Indian theatre Tughlaq. Based on the factual incident and aftermath of Sultan Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s maniacal decision to shift the capital of his empire from Delhi to Daulatabad and back, Tughlaq offers deep a insight into the vast gap between the aspirations of man and his reality and the endless spiral of doom that unbridled ambition can lead to. Written by Girish Karnad in 1964 in Kannada, Tughlaq has since been translated and performed across the country in other Indian languages. Tughlaq received huge appreciation from audience.

On the second day i.e. Sunday, 23rd December, the audience would be treated with Prem Kabootar, a play directed by Sameep Singh is one of the most hilarious plays by one of the most popular contemporary writers, Manav Kaul. It takes you to that era of school days, those teenage love affairs, romance in the air and enthusiastically following the heroes, heroines and even the story-lines of Hindi cinema? It will revive the feelings which still bring restlessness and let the butterflies fly in the stomach. The ‘Prem Kabootar’ takes you to that ageless moment. Saleem the tailor and a Casanova, Raju the chai wala and Suneel the ardent follower of Hindi films, who flip-flops from being a hero or a villain, the magical feel of love for these characters, the chirpy starlets and their heroines go through the topsy-curvy ride of life till they end up being kabootar. Yes, Kabootar. You have read it right.

As always the festival features a vibrant palette of productions in the coming days; ARSENIC AND OLD LACE Directed by Nayana Sagar and written by Jopesh Kesselring on 24th December, DADU (Solo), written & directed by Niloy Roy on 25th December, Lokesh Jain’s KALA SURAJ SAFED SAYEE, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas will be staged on 26th December and POEM OF AN ENDING, a stage adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Shesher Kobita, Directed by Kaushik Bose & Durba Ghose on 27th December. The annual fiesta will conclude with Girish Karnad’s AGNI AUR BARKHA, Directed by K.S. Rajendran on Friday, 28th December 2018.