Mohammad Ali Baig; Ashish Vidyarthi Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The 19th edition of the Qadir Ali Baig Theater Festival, to be held in Hyderabad from November 6 to 10, will pay tribute to the theater legend’s wife Begum Razia Baig, who passed away in March this year. “He presided over the festival he co-founded for 18 years. This year’s festival is women-centric in its theme and we pay tribute to motherhood,” says actor-theatre personality Mohammad Ali Baig, son of Begum Razia and curator of the festival.

The five-day festival at the Taramati Baradari Cultural Complex will feature performances, workshops and masterclasses by actors, poets, writers and directors. The festival will begin with a Hindi/English stand-up comedy act by actor Ashish Vidyarthi Vitthal Kanya, It is named after the popular character played by him in the Hindi film reallyBaig explains, “Our job is to present a ‘clean’ stand-up comedy show that does not use foul language or offend any group of audience.”

At the upcoming festival, audiences can look forward to satire, mature romance and dance theatre. While Ila Arun and KK Raina are included Miracle on Matunga StreetAdaptation of the comedy-drama by playwright Tom Dudzik Miracle on South Division Street, UK group Wright and Grainger will perform HeliosAn English drama focusing on a modern-day myth, inspired by an ancient Greek story. This play will be done with the help of British Council.

“Nadira Babbar’s play FaridaWhich he has written and directed, is a romance set in Kashmir,” Baig said about the Mumbai-based Edgecut Theater Group’s presentation.

Praveen Kumar of Chithkala School of Dance, Bengaluru will present a dance theater performance titled Tyagaraja Hridaya SadhanaHindi drama by ACT 24 Theater Group This is the meaning of life. Inspired by Arbuzov’s Russian play Do you do somersault turns?

The festival will conclude with Mysterious Fragrance – An Ode to MotherhoodAn English/Urdu poetry session featuring classical singer and musician Zila Khan as well as Mohammed Ali Baig and Dolly Thakore and Ali performing and reciting poems from renowned Indian and international poets such as Sardar Jaffrey, Edgar Allan Poe and Rudyard Kipling.