Little Thespian, a nationally acclaimed Hindi theatre group of Kolkata, is going to organise its 14th National Theatre Festival Jashn-E-Azhar from 28 February 2025 to 5 March 2025 at Gyan Manch. Financially assisted by the ministry of culture, government of India and Azhar Alam Memorial Trust, this festival is dedicated to renowned playwright Shri Partap Sehgal. He is one of the most eminent luminaires in the literary world, who started his journey with thoughtful poems and stories. In the course of his literary pursuit, his interest in theatre grew into playwriting. This was followed by a stint of writing critiques and reviews, particularly on playwriting and poetry, which opened up multiple layers of interpretation. Credited with reinventing the writing of science plays in theatre, he has left his indelible mark on every literary genre that he wrote. For his exemplary contribution to theatre as a playwright, Sangeet Natak Akademi, the government of India bestowed him with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Award 2022.

The festival will showcase 9 plays (including Little Thespian’s) all written by him. Sehar, Shantiniketan will stage its play Koi Aur Raasta directed by Mrityunjay Prabhakar. Dastaan Theatre Studio, Gwalior will stage play Anveshak directed by Ayaz Khan. Santoshpur Anuchintan, Kolkata will stage its play Bachche Bade Ho Rahe Hain directed by Gaurav Das. Unicorn Actors Studio, New Delhi will perform its play Antaral directed by Gauri Dewal. Anuragna Theatre Group, New Delhi will stage its play Teen Gumshuda Log directed by Ashraf Ali. Kamla Shankar Dhanwanti Foundation, Delhi will stage its play Ramanujan directed by Himanshu Himaniya. Samukha, New Delhi will stage its play Bulleshah directed by Arvind Singh and Manch Rangmanch, Amritsar will stage its play Rang Basanti directed by Kewal Dhaliwal.

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There will be Rang Samvad on two days wherein Arun Hota (Kolkata), Mohammad Kazim (Delhi), Rishi Bhushan (Kolkata), Vinay Mishra (Kolkata) and Shri Ayaz khan (Gwalior) will discuss on ‘Historical Relevance in Partap Sehgal’s Play’ while Shubhra Upadhyaya (Kolkata), Itu Singh (Kolkata), Reshmi Panda Mukherjee (Kolkata), Krishna Kumar  Shrivastava (Asansol), Ashraf Ali (Delhi) and Gaurav Das (Kolkata) will share their views on  ‘Exploring Human Existence in Partap Sehgal’s Plays’.                                                     

The 4th Azhar Alam Memorial Award will be conferred on Partap Sehgal. Little Thespian will also felicitate five theatre personalities for their dedicated service to theatre art: Pawan Maskara (theatre actor), Jeetendra Singh (theatre director), Sima Ghosh (theatre actress), Khursheed Ekram Manna (theatre artist) and Gagan Deep (theatre director).

The festival will also have the final phase of Little Thespian’s second drama competition, wherein the best three teams, selected earlier in phase 1 of the competition, will stage their plays, and the winners will be selected and awarded. The winners of the second research article writing competition will also be announced and awarded at the festival. All in all, the festival Jashn-E-Azhar will encompass all aspects of theatre.