And the Curtains Go Up!

The Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) a theatre festival like no other, the only set of awards in India for excellence in theatre  is a pioneering effort by the Mahindra Group to recognize and reward all aspects of theatre production and stage craft. Preceding the awards is the Mahindra Theatre Festival, which showcases the best of theatre in the year gone by.

The evening opened with the heady beats of Rajasthani Nagadas setting the mood for the festival at Delhis Kamani Auditorium. The festival was opened by Sanjoy Roy, producer of the festival and Head of Teamwork Arts. This year beckoned more than 300 entries competing for various categories. The entries were sifted through efficiently by the selection committee comprising of Mahesh Dattani, VK Sharma, NS Yamuna and Pronoti Dutta, who eventually narrowed down to 8 finalists. These eight plays will be performed over the course of this week at Kamani and the Little Theatre Group Auditoriums before the awards themselves are announced on Sunday.

All plays will be watched and judged by the jury, who were introduced by Sanjoy and invited on stage for the auspicious lighting of the lamp. Ravi Dubey, Creative Director of the festival was also present on stage.

The festival is open to the public.