Even as preparations are on for the “biggest little play festival” in South India (Short+Sweet), Benga-luru’s theatre artistes are prepping for the second edition of the Tortilla theatre festival. Aptly titled, Tortilla Twister 2017, this edition will witness plays with a twist. Anitha Mithra, arts manager and founder, The Tortilla House, who was earlier associated with the Short+Sweet festival initiated Tortilla last year.
Last year, the festival included Indian authors, plays for children and devised theatre techniques. This year, the three-day festival will stage two plays by Mumbai-based theatre artiste Jeff Goldberg on the first and second days. On the second and third days, there will be a competition of 18 short five-minute plays. “This year, we have twisted it around a bit.
Instead of the groups choosing their own scripts, we’ve chosen the scripts and devised a challenge specific to each of these. Participants had to pick chits and got a week to rehearse. There is a lot of creativity involved. We wanted artistes to have fun working on the plays and audiences to have fun while watching it,” explains Anitha.
Jeff’s plays — Deranged Marriage which received rave reviews when it opened in Mumbai will premiere in Bengaluru at Tortilla. It deals with the “absurdity” of arranged marriages. His second play, Cookie Machine, is the story of the famous American rock n’ roll singer Jack Ray and his unusual encounter with an underworld don in Mumbai.
May 19-21, 3.30 pm and 7 pm. At Alliance Francaise, Vasanthnagar. Tickets (Rs 300) on bookmyshow.com