First under-25 theatre festival in Chennai

CHENNAI: Come February, theatre enthusiasts will be privy to the very first ‘under-25’ theatre festival in the city. Senior citizens need worry not, this age barricade is for actors only.  Christened, the MY Theatre Festival is organised by ProdigyNext in association with Masquerade Youth Theatre. “The idea was conceptualised when I heard of another festival called ‘Thespo’ that is for under-25 actors in Mumbai,” explains Dushyanth Gunashekar, actor and co-ordinator for the festival. He adds, “And sadly, there was no representation from Chennai at the time.” Though there are several platforms for amateur actors in Chennai, “The hope is that a festival like this one will provide some more structure for budding young actors in the field,” says Mohammed Faizan, MD of ProdigyNext. With three plays, four newbie directors and over 50 actors, it seems a boost  of ‘fresh’ perspective goes with the territory. After all, how often do you get a dose of Sci-fi, the epic Mahabharata and comedy all in one festival? GAUTAM RAJA’s PUB CRAWL & OTHER PLAYS: Feb 2Genre: Comedy/ Urban satireTarget Audience: Working professionals and upper middle class urban audience mostly corporates. Directed by Abhinav Suresh & Karan Ram —this is a laugh riot STRICTLY FOR 16 and OVER. Gautam Raja, one of Bangalore's leading playwrights in English, takes us through three couplets about young urban India and their travails. Sheer variety entertainment and rib-tickling humour is the name of the game. Run time: 90 minutesJEROME BIXBY’s MAN FROM EARTH: Feb 3Genre: Sci-fi/ DramaTarget Audience: Working professionals, English theatre enthusiasts, literature enthusiasts and cultural partners.Directed by Aditya Madhavan — an intense sci - fi drama about a young history professor and his colleagues during his farewell party.  A first in Chennai theatre, you may want to listen closely to the dialogue on this one.Run time: 90 minutesMACTRIC’s VIDHURAN: Feb 4Genre: Mahabharata in MimeTarget Audience: All and sundryDirected by Vivek Swaminathan - Mactric’s, a popular mime and body theatre group, is all set to experiment with a combination of mime, bharathnatyam and monologues. The main character of the performance is a little known character from the Mahabharata. After two successful shows in Chennai, VIDHURAN returns to find out IF HE IS IN YOU?Run time: 90 minutes