HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, March 4: Indian theatre’s annual awards and festival gala – the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) – is set to run from March 23-29. Instituted by the Mahindra Group, the Festival announced the top 10 plays nominated across 13 categories which will be staged in the national capital followed by a glittering Red Carpet Awards Night. To celebrate the finest in Indian theatre, the winners will be felicitated on March 29 at the Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, with luminaries from the world of theatre present at the occasion.
Both of the nominated plays for META 2023 in Assamese are namely Burn Out directed by
Barnali Medhi and produced by Pardam Trust; and Chaai Garam directed by Sahidul Haque and produced by Orchid Theatre.
Notably, for the 2023 season, the Festival received 395 entries from across India representing Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Manipur, and Rajasthan. Integrating inclusivity and diversity into the Festival as always, the final 10 nominations feature plays in languages like Assamese, English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Marwadi and Tamil, among others.
Decoding the selection process at META 2023, playwright and stage critic Vikram Phukan said, “In the selection process, we implemented inclusiveness in the works, the different kinds of experience that are not normally foregrounded. In some of the plays, one will see some surprise packages that will be disarming in the way that these groups have risen in excellence.”
Speaking of META 2023, Jay Shah, Vice President, Head – of Cultural Outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “META 2023 has lived up to the Mahindra Group’s annual promise of diversity and inclusion, spanning across a breadth of languages, themes and genres. We are delighted that the discerning Selection Committee, after 4 days of rigorous watching and careful consideration, has nominated ten productions that embrace and showcase excellence in stagecraft, and champion this art form that has been one of the world’s oldest and most powerful forms of artistic expression.”
