South Kolkata residents can now enjoy Theatre Festival at Madhusudan Mancha

Kolkata: For the first time ever in the history of the state, an initiative has been taken to ensure that people of South Kolkata do not remain deprived of the grandeur of Theatre Festival.

This is the first time when the Information and Cultural Affairs department of the Mamata Banerjee government has decided to include Madhusudan Mancha in South Kolkata as one of the venues for the Theatre Festival.

The international Theatre Festival is organised every year in January. Theatre groups, both national and international ones, perform in the festival and the platform here in Kolkata is considered as one of the biggest ones in the country by theatre fraternities.

Till 2018, Rabindra Sadan and Minerva Theatre were the only two venues for the Theatre Festival. With Minerva Theatre being one of the venues, it is convenient for theatre-loving people from North Kolkata to visit the place and enjoy the extravaganza of the programme organised by the state government. Similarly, theatre lovers from the Central part of the city enjoy the same convenience at Rabindra Sadan.

Sources said that the matter related to the necessity of including a venue in the Southern part of the city came up in a meeting that was held recently in the state secretariat. The top brass of the state government has also given its nod to include a venue in South Kolkata, where a part of the total number of theatre groups will be performing.

Finally, Madhusudan Mancha at Dhakuria has been chosen as the venue for the event in South Kolkata. A senior official of the state government has mentioned that Madhusudan Mancha has been chosen as the venue for the event for its prime location, which people can easily reach.

Around 20 theatre groups get selected to perform in the Theatre Festival that continues for around four days in January. It has been learnt that more than 100 theatre groups have applied to get an opportunity to perform in the festival. There is a screening committee comprising famous theatre personalities.

With Madhusudan Mancha getting added as a venue for the Theatre Festival, theatre lovers from South Kolkata won't have to travel to either the Central or Northern part of the city, to be a part of their favourite event.

Kolkata, the cultural capital of the country, has witnessed several endeavours of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee towards preservation and promotion of various art forms, in the past 7 years. Since the change of guard in the state in 2011, the state government has taken various initiatives for better promotion of art forms, starting from folk art to theatre.