When all of Delhi is a stage

Keeping alive the cloudburst tragedy of Leh, which happened over two months ago and left 200 dead, theatre veterans Smita Bharti, Sohaila Kapur, Lushin Dubey and Arvind Gaur have come together this week to do their bit.

Keeping alive the cloudburst tragedy of Leh, which happened over two months ago and left 200 dead, theatre veterans Smita Bharti, Sohaila Kapur, Lushin Dubey and Arvind Gaur have come together this week to do their bit.

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The theme of the 5-play festival, Whose life is it Anyway, questions the control one has over life. “We’re exploring relationships and people who influence our lives. Some influence you, some like to control, and some are meditative who like neither,” explains Sohaila Kapur, playwright and founder of Hungry Heart Festival. The proceeds from the fest will go towards HelpAge India’s relief efforts.

On Saturday, Lushin Dubey performs an untitled solo act under Gaur’s direction. Untitled is a production from 2002, which deals with domestic violence and child abuse.

On Sunday, Gaur’s long running works, Ek Mamooli Aadmi (EMA) and Court Martial (CM) will be shown. EMA, inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s film, Ikiru, is an intense personal journey for happiness while CM is a lower caste man’s search for justice. “Youth power” is the underlying energy in all these works, Gaur says.

Also playing: Feisal Alkazi’s Keep Tightly Closed In a Cool Dark Place — a play that deals with modern-day marriage — at Habitat World, Lodhi Road on October 24.

NSD’s final year students perform Macbeth based on the Hindi rendition by Harivansh Rai Bachchan from 24 to 30 October at Bahumukh Auditorium, 1 Bhagwandas Road.