About the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai :

One of Mumbai`s famous theatres, the Prithvi Theatre belongs to the Kapoor clan, one of the most influential actor/director families in Bollywood. This theatre is dedicated to the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor, as a great respect to his dream for Indian theatre. Started by Shashi Kapoor (the youngest son of Prithviraj Kapoor) and his wife Jennifer Kendel, since they both shared a passion for theatre, they decided to go ahead and make this dream into a reality.

The Late `s career in Bollywood had spanned more than 40 illustrious years, but his passion for drama and theatre was something very extraordinary and he cherished it forever. In 1927 Prithviraj left Edwards College, Peshawar, to pursue a career as an actor. He came to Bombay and joined the Imperial Studio Company, where he was selected to play the lead in a silent film `Cinema Girl` starring Ermelene, the screen goddess of her time. In 1931 he joined an English actor-manager`s travelling theatre group. In this group, he went ahead to perform many roles.

Keeping this experience as a base, in 1944 he established his own Prithvi Theatres, which was a travelling theatre company. It consisted of about 150 dedicated actors, stagehands, cooks, writers and technicians, performing plays throughout the country. The Prithvi Theatres` maiden production was Kalidasa`s classic "Shakuntala", after which many famous plays were performed all over India and became immensely popular. These plays were written specifically for Prithvi Theatres and Prithviraj played the lead in all the productions. The Prithvi Theatres was one of the first professionals Hindi theatre groups with a permanent staff, which worked on actively developing and nurturing a modern theatre movement.

Prithvi Festival :
The first Prithvi Festival in 1983 was held to celebrate 5 years of successful growth in theatre groups, as well as the development of an audience. Since then the Prithvi Festivals have been conducted annually and it includes theatre groups; featuring local Bombay groups, or national or international in scope, with various themes. They have attempted to encourage quality and originality in local various Bombay groups and also to bring some of the best and most interesting of Indian and world theatre to Bombay in the interests of exposure. The Prithvi Theatre Festival has reached out to audiences beyond Mumbai also, touring its 1995 and 1997 Festivals to New Delhi and its 2000 festival to Pune.

Elements of Drama : 

Drama on stage often reflects the drama of everyday life, but it also concentrates life, focuses it, and holds it up for examination. Aristotle outlined some elements of drama in his critical analysis of the classical Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex written by the Greek playwright, Sophocles, in the 5th century B.C. The elements involve: Thought, Theme, Ideas; Action or Plot; Characters; Language; Music; and Spectacle. Since plays are written with the intention of performance, the reader of the play must use her imagination to enact the play as she reads it. 

Major Theatre Groups & Companies : 

Ranga Shankara:
Few friends from Bangalore dreamt a dream together. The dream was to regenerate and revive Indian theatre and thus to keep Indian theatre alive. The whispers of the dream, the murmurs of the heart thus gave birth to Ranga Shankara, which is no more a dream but a reality. One of the major groups and companies, Ranga Shankara is now a day the place to reverberate the sounds of modern theatre in India. Apart from scaffolding the best plays all across the world Ranga Shankara also holds the dance festival in order to showcase the best talents in the respective field.

Ninasam:
Nestled at the village of Heggodu in Sagar Taluk of the Shivamogga district in Karnataka, Ninasam happens to be one of the major groups and companies dedicated to the development and growth of Indian Natya. It was the year 1945 when Subbanna, one of the acclaimed Kannad dramatist and writer along with his friend laid the seed of Ninasam as the organization to carry Indian theatre to the next level of matureness. That was just the beginning of a new history and within no time Ninasam stood apart as one of the Major theatre companies and groups to not only stage modern theatres but also to encourage the classical film culture.

Indians People Theatre Association (IPTA)
In the year 1945, IPTA was established for the greater objective of building social consciousness and at the same time to support the national integration amidst the artistry of Indian theatre. IPTA as an "apex body" aided in changing the age old concepts of Indian theatre. The aim was to revive the rich cultural heritage of India and slowly IPTA stood apart as the leading theatre association of India. IPTA is still reckoned as one of the major groups of Indian theatre and is one of the oldest associations of performing art in India.

Chetana
Bengali theatre after independence became the illustration of India`s socio political setting and one of the major groups was Chetana, which further reshaped the contemporary Bengali theatre to a great extent. The great breakthrough in the history of Bengali theatre occurred with the theatrical production of "Nabanna" at Chetana. It is still believed as the red-letter day in the timeline of Bengali drama.

Theatre Formation Paribartak
Situated at the Howrah District of West Bengal, Theatre Formatioin Paribartak is one of the major groups and companies in Indian theatre that has aided in redefining the modern Indian theatre. Paribartak staged plays like "Waiting For Godot", "Ekdin Rattire"., "Godot Waits For Homeland Security", "Piano", "Endgame" and denounced the change in the typical dramaturgy of Indian theatre.

Bahurupee:
It is with the establishment of "Bahurupee" by Shambhu Mitra in the year 1947, Post Independence theatre form gained a distinguished elocution. Tulsi Lahiri`s "Pathik", "Chera Tar" and "Ulukhagra" are few of the plays, which aided in carrying the modern Indian theatre to the further level of maturity. The staging of Rabindranath Tagore`s "Raktakarabi" in the year 1954 again created another milestone in the history of Indian theatre.