Shudraka Hyderabad’s multilingual theater festival Expressions 26 is set to challenge the way theater has traditionally been viewed and experienced in Hyderabad. With this year’s theme ‘Breaking the Frame: Proscenium and Beyond’, the three-day multilingual theater festival at Rangbhoomi Space from June 5 to 7 features performances, seminars, workshops and masterclasses. The festival celebrates diverse theatrical practices and encourages dialogue between artists and audiences,” says Swapan Mandal, founder-director of the group.

discovery of new forms

Swapna Mandal | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Launching in 2023, Expressions 26 hopes to physically integrate audiences into the action through an immersive experience in its fourth year. Swapan says this approach is to reflect the growing movement in contemporary theater to challenge traditional stage-audience relationships and explore new forms of performance.

He added, “Many of the productions at the festival experiment with intense, intimate and non-traditional theatrical spaces and invite audiences to engage with the theater in different ways.”

Apart from Shudraka, who is premiering his multilingual play kantho, voice, arupu-unsilencedCity-based theater groups Sifar and Nihti Rangsena Manch almost flawless And bloody red oleander In Hindi and Bengali. of Kochi layman Theater and Mumbai-based Rupangan Foundation stage bilingual plays aglaium cleopatrium And Confession Soup In Malayalam and English.

standing up for the truth

A 90-minute theater production in Bengali, Telugu, Hindi and English, throat, voice…directed by Swapan Mandal is inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht, Utpal Dutt and Harold Pinter. “The play reflects the fear of knowledge of power,” explains Swapan. “The story is based on the idea of ​​standing up for truth rancor – Hate, which is perpetuated through control, division and silencing. The story is of a teacher, a scientist and a community whose language itself becomes taboo. In every action, authority demands obedience not only from the body, but also from thought, reason and speech.

contemporary adaptation

A scene from the play ‘Confession Soup’. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

bloody red oleander It has emerged as the main attraction of this year’s edition. Contemporary adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore bloodworm (Red Oleanders), bloody red oleanderImportant because 2026 is the centenary of its publication bloodwormFirst published in 1926. “The play is reimagined in the context of current social and political realities; it revisits Tagore’s enduring critique of power, greed and dehumanization, demonstrating the continued relevance of his work even a hundred years later.”

A platform for new talents

Shudraka Hyderabad Team | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

An active member of Hyderabad’s theater circuit, Shudraka has been staging plays in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and English for over two decades. Swapan and his team attended drama festivals across the country and were inspired to create a platform that celebrates the diverse voices that quietly contribute to the craft. The festival also hopes to become a platform for emerging and independent theater groups who are struggling to showcase their productions. “Expression celebrates plurality and strives to create a theater ecology where linguistic diversity is recognized as a strength rather than a hindrance. In a time of increasing polarization and division, the Festival believes that multilingual theater provides a powerful reminder that different voices can share the same stage, city, and future.”

Expressions 26, a three-day multilingual theater festival from June 5 to 7 at Rangbhoomi Space, Hyderabad. Check @shudrka on Instagram for event schedule. tickets on bookmyshow