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Theatre productions in India and abroad will be seen at the '8th Theatre Olympics', organised by the National School of Drama, here from February 27, as part of its 17-city tour of the country, an NSD official said.
"The Kolkata leg of the festival, organised for the first time in India, will end on March 13 after staging 21 theatre productions including English and other foreign and regional languages in both verbal and non-verbal forms in three venues," NSD Dean (Academic) Shantanu Bose told a press meet here last evening.
The 21 productions include five foreign theatre groups - Bangladesh (Morshokam), Sri Lanka (Pyramus & Thisby), Spain (The World Around 80 Boxes), Germany (Compassion: The History of Machine Gun), and Azerbaijan (Punishment), he said.
The Union Ministry of Culture has provided Rs 51 crore to host the 'Theatre Olympics,' so named due to its international nature, he said.
The 'Theatre Olympics' is being held in 17 cities across the country with Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Bhubaneswar already having staged the show.
Theatre groups of 30 countries have been staging their globally acclaimed productions in the 17-city tour, he said.
The last leg of the festival will take place in Mumbai with a concluding show on April 8.
Bose said the 'Theatre Olympics' was first held in 1993 in Greece and over the years became a platform for theatrical exchange for students and eminent actors.
"While English plays will not require any sub-titles, for other foreign and Indian language plays there will be sub-titles of dialogues which will be flashed on side display board during the performances," he said.
There will be no Bengali plays from here excepting the Bangladeshi production.
The 'Theatre Olympics' had been previously held in Japan, Russia, Turkey, South Korea, China, Poland but not in every year, he said.
NSD Director Prof Waman Kendre said in a statement, "For the past three years we had nourished the dream to bring Theatre Olympics to India. The dream ... has come true."
The 7th Theatre Olympics was held in Poland in 2016.
