Mumbai comedy festival is back, time to laugh out loud

In the past couple of years, Mumbai’s comedy scene has expanded manifold, with every other city café hosting stand-up and open mic events. To promote the newer forms, and to keep alive the old school theatre, the National Centre for the Performing Arts is back with its annual comedy festival, Cheer!

In the past couple of years, Mumbai’s scene has expanded manifold, with every other city café hosting stand-up and open mic events.



To promote the newer forms, and to keep alive the old school theatre, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) is back with its annual festival, Cheer! In its third edition, the festival will feature acts covering various forms of comedy like improv, musical and sketch, among others. Here’s round-up of what to expect this year.



The Open Couple

Using commedia dell’arte — an Italian form of theatre that extensively uses masks, props and music — this play is a madcap routine between a man and a woman. Put together by the Hyderabad-based theatre group, 71mm Production, the act is an adaptation of Dario Fo’s play by the same name, and it revolves around a suicidal emotional wreck, who tries to come to terms with her husband’s idea of an open marriage.

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Bombed

A dark comedy, this English play revolves around a young boy who gets caught up in a terrorism racket. The drama provides a light-hearted look at today’s urban youth, the city we live in, religion and how our paranoia about terrorism warps our lives. "I think everybody will connect with the play at some point," says Adhaar Khurrana, director, Akvarious Production.



Funny Women

Enjoy 90 minutes of hilarious performances by female comedians like Aditi Mittal, Anu Menon and Kaneez Surka. "We hope to give women comedians an extra focus and help other women to come on board," says Deepa Gahlot, head, theatre and film programming.



The World Is Enough: License To Travel

This act will witness comics Papa CJ and Anuvab Pal presenting a comic travelogue. The show will feature some hilarious sketches of various cultures from across the world.

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