German play ‘Paradies’ will be showcased in Pune for the first time. ‘Paradies’ will be staged during a conference on youth radicalization called ‘Towards Peace’ being organized by Maharashtra Cultural Centre, Pune and Max Mueller Bhavan between July 14 and 16, 2019.
The conference, which will also showcase Marathi play ‘Y’and hold short film and poster competition, seminar and a music concert will be held at Jyotsna Bhole Sabhagruha, Pune. All activities in the conference- ‘Toward Peace’ are free and open to all for participation.
Written by two German playwrights-Lutz Hübner and Sarah Nemitz for the Young Playhouse Duesseldorf/D’haus, ‘Paradies’ which is scheduled to be played on July 16, Tuesday at 5:30 pm deals with a life of a teenager- Hamid who drifts toward radicalization.
The funny, serious and thoughtful play is directed by Mina Salehpour, who directs plays in state theatres in Duesseldorf, Munic, Hannover, Berlin and Dresden and is the youngest awardee of the German theatre prize-‘DER FAUST’.
‘Paradies’ was chosen ‘Play of the Year’ in the state of North Rhine-West phalia and was invited to play in Sao Paulo, Berlin and now in Bangalore and Pune. The entry for the play is free and is on first come first serve basis.
The three-day conference will also showcase Marathi play ‘Y’, by Maharashtra Cultural Centre, Pune on Sunday, July 14at 11:30 am that deals with today’s youth who are vulnerable to go on a radical path.
“People are turning more and more radical in their thinking and even actions nowadays. As content creators, we find it very surprising and even saddening that the overall tolerance level to people and thoughts that don’t synch with ours, has gone down. We and our German counterparts strongly felt the need of addressing this issue in a play since all of us are standing at such Y points. ‘Y’ makes us take a moment and think about where we stand and where we all might end up going,” said writer and director,Shrirang Godbole.
The event will be commenced by a rock concert- ‘Peace’ by musician, composer and activist, Pragnya Wakhlu and flute player, Gandhaar Amin.
An important panel discussion of the conference will be presided by Arun Wakhlu, executive director of Pragati Leadership and chairman of Pragati Foundation, Khalid Shah, associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, founder and president, Mantraya,Lutz Hübner, German playwright and Rahul Chandawarkar, acclaimed journalist.