Playwrights to discuss how plays transform into productions

Kolkata: Playwrights from across India have converged here to exchange views on how a play evolves into a stage production at the first National Theatre Seminar that began here Wednesday.Organised by Minerva Natya Charcha, the festival was flagged-off at the Rabindra Sadan auditorium here.

It includes panelists like theatre directors Deepan Sivaraman (Kerala) and Shrikant Bhide (Maharashtra) for a discussion on the theme "Plays to production". "We are here to see how a play evolves from the text to the production stage... to exchange ideas on how to showcase theatre," said Bratya Basu, who heads the theatre group. Basu, an acclaimed theatre personality, is also the state tourism minister. Thespians from Bengal, Manoj Mitra and Bibhas Chakraborty, will also be present for the sessions that will run through this week. Sivaraman said the seminar would provide an opportunity for playwrights to tackle the complexities of transforming a play into production.