Theatre, humour, and humanity take centre stage at Community Festival 2025

Every once in a while, a city pauses to ask why it creates, and Community Festival 2025 might be Chennai’s way of asking that question out loud. This festival is a gathering of artistes, audiences, and everyone who believes that the performing arts are a conversation more than a spectacle. “The festival was born out of a simple impulse to bring people together around the love of performance,” says curator Craig Lobo, who has shaped this event around the ethos of curiosity, collaboration, and courage.

Community Festival 2025 invites audiences to watch, talk, and create together

Each evening of this fest takes a different form, from improv to clowning. Craig explains, “Performances in Chennai often happen in isolation. Artistes work in their own circles, audiences come and go, and the conversation ends at the curtain call. This festival hopes to bridge that gap, to create a space where artistes, technicians, and audiences can stay a little longer, talk about what moved them, and explore the craft together. It’s about building continuity, not just consumption.”

The first evening has already set the tone for what the festival promises. The Improv Circus opened the festival with uninhibited laughter and quick thinking, setting the tone for a weekend of spontaneous humour. Chennai Masala by Theatre Arlequin was meant to spice things up further with an evening of short, hot, spicy comedies—six short plays and a monologue followed by an audience interaction. “I started out doing theatre four decades back,” says director R Amarendran. “Over time, I realised people come to be entertained, so I focused on comedy, even though it’s the hardest form, because if the jokes fail, the play fails.”

However, the performance has been postponed due to a lack of audience, something Amarendran hopes will change as more people open up to local comedy theatre. What lies ahead, however, are some thought-provoking evenings in the schedule.

The next showcase, Conclave by Theatre Nisha, will be led by V Balakrishnan, transforms performance into participation. “In this dynamic community theatre session, the audience transforms into collaborators and creators,” says Balakrishnan. “Together, we will witness how performance becomes a mirror, reflecting who we are, what we struggle with, and the possibilities we can imagine together.”

Known for his deep understanding of theatre’s social role, he hopes the festival will help unify Chennai’s creative landscape. “Chennai’s theatre is fractured and fragmented; it’s a passionate hope that festivals of this nature will bring everyone together,” he says.

Ultimately, he sees Conclave as “a good ground to engage in an honest communion,” a space where reflection and connection take centre stage.

If Conclave is an exercise in shared creation, GPS: Gender, Political, and Social Peace by Kael theatre is an act of reflection, a trilogy of short performances that tackle gender, politics, and society through the lens of Tamil culture. Writer-director R Jayachandran describes it as “a consciousness-building exploration.”

“We wanted to bring in peace through consciousness, constant discussion, and self-introspection that can create a space where we respect, acknowledge, and reform towards love and peace,” he explains. The trilogy comprises Cinema F’Aan’tasy, Naanum Kutravaali, and Bommai Bommai Bommai Paar.

“A lot of recent sociopolitical and cultural factors have influenced us to write this trilogy—particularly films that have released lately, the way film personalities speak during promotions, the political narratives that run through cinema, and the disturbing news stories we continue to hear: abuses, murders, honour killings. It’s 2025, and we still have such headlines,” he says.

The closing performance, Clowns in the Hospital by Koothadi Collectives, directed by Dhinesh, takes a whimsical turn with four different types of clowning. Described as “a physical theatre comedy gone slightly out of control,” the play transforms a hospital into a playground of laughter and metaphor.

The story’s surreal setup stems from real experience. “I’ve spent quite some time in hospitals when my relatives were admitted,” he shares. “During those stays, I became friends with many people and realised that each one of them had been the hero of their own life at some point, even if they’d faced failure. That made me wonder, what if we could portray all this through an artistic lens?”

Craig Lobo, who curated the festival with support from Chennai Art Theatre and Medai, says, “We hope to make this an annual fest.” He hopes the festival reminds people that performance doesn’t end when the lights fade. “I want them to feel curious, more connected, not necessarily inspired in a dramatic sense, but quietly stirred. If someone walks out thinking, ‘I want to talk about what I just saw,’ or ‘I felt something I can’t quite name,’ that’s success.”

Rs 200 onwards. From 7 pm to 9 pm. On till November 14. At Medai - The Stage, Alwarpet.

Email: shivani@newindianexpress.com
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