The curtain rises for the 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) 2013

The 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) began yesterday evening at the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in Thrissur. Around 40 plays, from Romania, England, Poland, France, Uzbekistan, Czech Republic ,Norway, Georgia, and Slovenia and various parts of India will form the part of this unique festival in four segments . International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) is designed to bring some of the best contemporary theatre of the world, with an emphasis on Europe. The festival is scheduled to take place from 15th to 22nd of January 2013. The fifth ITFoK is an attempt to explore the wide spectrum of innovative and experimental theatre activities of Europe.  During the eight days of spectacular theatre activities ITFoK is poised to showcase some of the best contemporary Indian productions. As an attempt to add more verve to local theatre there will be a special section of contemporary theatre from Kerala also. A special segment featuring the productions won prizes in the Akademi’s annual theatre competitions will be another highlight of the current edition of the festival. Also there will be five solo performances by leading performers from India and Uzbekistan, to throw more light into this emerging phenomenon of performance making. Major pedagogues, academics and practitioners from theatre and performance studies will lead the brainstorming  sessions.  All together 32 groups and  around 40 shows in the eight days of festival will certainly be a treat to theatre lovers. Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph declared the festival open at Bharat Murali Open Auditorium, yesterday evening  . In a symbolic act, senior actor KPAC Lalitha donned the grease-paint to mark the inauguration. She then enacted a skit to the accompaniment of the mizhavu (a percussion instrument). Kalaratna awards were presented to artist Sujathan, singer Ananthalakshmi Venkataraman, and dancer Kalamandalam Sugandhi. ‘Celebrating Abilities’, a dance show by physically challenged artistes, followed the inaugural function. ‘Hamletmachine’ (La M.ort Theatre, Poland), a postmodernist drama by German playwright and theatre director Heiner Müller that is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ opened the festival.Cooperation Minister C N Balakrishnan inaugurated the ‘Black Box’ theatre, designed by the festival organisers, at Nattygraham on Monday. A venue for performances called ‘Vana Jyotsana’, was inaugurated by Thermabil Ramakrishnan MLA. Surya Krishnamurthy , Chairman, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi  said that the distribution of around 800 delegate passes have been completed.. A special workshop will be held for the directors and artists each day. The inaugural show will be "Hamlet Machine", by La Mort Theatre from Poland, at Regional Theatre. In regional language category Malayalam drama "Uthuppante Kinar" will be staged at the Town Hall. ‘Celebrating Abilities’, a dance show by physically challenged artistes, followed the inaugural function. ‘Hamletmachine’ (La M.ort Theatre, Poland), a postmodernist drama by German playwright and theatre director Heiner Müller that is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ opened the festival.