Indore: Be it emotional Marathi plays, Gujarati comic skits, Hindi classics or Bengali folk drama, Indore stages have welcomed theatre of all languages and efforts to keep the drama alive is always a work in progress. All stage performances across all languages in Indore have unique styles.The most popular in Indore have been Hindi and Marathi acts which have hundreds of active groups that stage plays every week.On world theatre day we discuss the characteristic of theatre culture of these four major languages in Indore."While Hindi plays are common, their themes are mostly based on social issues or literary classics. Marathi plays are more experimental not just with presentation but themes. Subjects like homosexuality have also been staged in Marathi," Sriram Jog, noted theatre artist from Indore said.Audiences for Marathi plays have also risen significantly in the past years with strongest and most loyal audience group being Sanand Nyas. "Members of the group are divided into five categories. Plays by artists from Pune and Mumbai are staged every month or fortnight," Jayant Bhise, secretary of Sanand Nyas said.For Gujaratis, watch a play is an event for over 5,000 community members who are picked up from their homes in buses and dropped back. "Our plays are by groups from Mumbai or Ahmedabad and they are free. We organise plays on open grounds and also put up screens," Divakar Shah, former president of Gujarati Samaj said.Among Bengalis, plays are mostly produced by theatre groups from the city and the focus is to promote Bengali culture and language. "Bengali plays along with folk art like Jatra are staged once in two or three months," Tapan Mukherjee, a Bengali theatre artist said.

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