Ibsen thrives among Indian college-goers
Creative ideas are pouring out of the capital's amateur stage. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, one of the modern dramatists to have influenced Indian theatre, has made inroads into the college drama circuit with a festival.
Five premier colleges in the capital will stage their interpretations of the 19th century playwright's masterpieces Sep 22-26 at the '2010: New Ibsen Event For Colleges' as a prelude to the annual Ibsen theatre festival scheduled for November.
The festival will be presented jointly by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Dramatic Art and Design Academy - a non-profit platform that promotes theatre and performing arts - at the LTG Theatre.
'We want to give Delhi students a platform to display their talent. We want the film industry scouts to identify them - as it happens in the college theatre festivals in Mumbai where directors and technical experts search for potential new faces,' Nissar Allana, director of the Dramatic Art & Design Academy (DADA), told IANS.
The five plays adapted from Ibsen's works include 'O Ibsen' by students of Maitreyi College, 'Doors' by Miranda House, 'The Tame Duck' by Kirori Mal College, 'Frihet' by Kamala Nehru College and 'The Mannequins in Elysium' by students of Lady Shri Ram College.
Ibsen, born in 1828, is often called the father of modern drama. He is known for plays woven around powerful and unconventional women.
Along with Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw and Bertolt Brecht, he influenced post-Independence Indian theatre, with their 'return-to-the-roots' ideology creeping into the works of modern playwrights like Vijay Tendulkar, Sambhu Mitra and Girish Karnad.