Set ready for Int'l Theatre Festival

Kathmandu, Feb. 22: Preparations for the Nepal International Theatre Festival (NITFest) 2019 have been completed.

Theatres have been set for the festival, technical requirements have been met and variour subcommittees are working to hold it smoothly, said the organisers at an media interaction on Friday.

Seven active theatre groups in Nepal - Mandala Theatre, Theare mall, Shilpee Theatre, Katha Ghera, One World Theatre, Theatre Village and Studio Actors - are jointly organising the mega event which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on 25 February in the Capital.

The week-long festival will run in five different venues in Kathmandu – Mandala, Katha Ghera, Shilpee, Theatre Mall and Hotel Vajra.

"Organised with the 'Theatre for social transformation: An artictic voyage', the NITFest is expected to strengthen the communal harmony, respectfulness for social diversity and contribute in preservation of intangible cultural herittage through social awareness, art and exchange," said the organisers.

The festival will also support Nepali theatre groups coming together in a shared platform to explore their aesthetic expressions and solidarities for releant socio-political issues, said Rajan Khatiwada, Festival Director.

About 30 theatre productions will be featured during the festival, of which 12 are from Nepal and 18 are international plays from eight different countries.

Along with the theatrical performances, the festival will include panel discussions on theatre, cinema and other contemporary issues in the performance arts. Likewise, there will be discussions with directors and crew of play peformed during the festival which will be moderated by actor Anup Baral.

Similarly, open air artistic, cultural performances and exhibition will also be organised on the occasion, including exhibition of masks and sculptures, poetry pottery, poetry recitation, improv performance and cultural dance performances.

After the conclusion of the festival in Kathmandu, it will be organised in Pokhara and Janakpur where a few selected plays will be performed.

Theatre lovers can buy the tickets at Rs. 300 per show. The timing of the performance is set so as to allow the viewers to reach every theatre.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 February 2019.