Rangmanch announces the first ever multi lingual Indian Theatre Festival in Auckland – from 15th to 24th of May 2015?at The Playhouse Theatre – Glen Eden, Auckland.

This is planned to be a mega event – to showcase four full length Indian plays of exceptional quality and value in ethnic Indian languages viz. Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali – a rare experience to all Theatre lovers in Auckland. A festival of this quality and diversity has never ever been showcased in New Zealand. Especially in Auckland, which is considered a melting pot of cultures from across the world, this festival is set to be a unique treat to eloquently demonstrate the diversity within the rich and varied cultural heritage of India.

Rangmanch NZ is a not for profit, voluntary and charitable Theatre group born in April 2008.

‘Rangmanch’ literally means “The Stage “or “The Dias” where an artist performs. Rangmanch was started with an objective to create a unique platform from where they stage/ host events such as theatre, dance?and music festivals. This is an endeavor to try to reach out to the migrant communities from the Indian subcontinent, who have made this beautiful country their home thus inspiring them to sustain and celebrate their ethnic heritage and culture.

In this “God’s own” country of New Zealand, which believes in integration of cultures of multi ethnicity, Rangmanch is an attempt to transcend the spirit and colour of Indian tradition and heritage and embrace everyone from the wider New Zealand Society. This is thus a platform to bring together all those who may have an interest in the Indian Culture, history and tradition even though they do not belong to the Indian community.

The Philosophy behind the festival :

India is truly a country of many dimensions and every state has its own language, Culture and social practices. As a country it stands united and takes pride in its rich cultural heritage, secular philosophy and non-violent ways. India emboldens the true spirit of the expression - Unity in diversity.

All art forms (be it Literary works, Music, Paintings, Sculpture, Theatre, Motion Picture) that have withstood the test of time have always spoken for the cause of humanity and the spiritual divinity. It has either given birth to revolutions – to fight against evil and corruption or thrown us into the depths of self-realisation, motivating us to work for the benevolence of mankind in general.

Hindi being the official language of India is spoken and understood by most Indians to varying degrees of fluency. Hence till early 2013 all of the productions at Rangmanch were mostly in Hindi.

With time and the evolving of the Indian community at large in New Zealand, it was felt that there is a large population of major Indian community with sub groups like the Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Konkani,etc. communities living in Auckland with a strong cultural base all deeply rooted to their respective languages and regional theatres. And hence the idea of this festival was conceived.

“Rangmanch” have felt that there is a huge gap in fulfilling the intellectual requirements of the huge Migrant Indian community rich diversity, in terms of the creative arts. This also includes a significant number of the new generation of young Indian diaspora – who have had only limited opportunities to get a first hand experience of their rich and diverse cultural heritage.

This festival is aimed at bringing together peoples from all walks of life, from various cultures and language backgrounds, not just to showcase India’s “unity in diversity” but also the richness of our culture. It is said that the best way to keep a culture alive and flourishing is to keep its language alive.

This festival thus is an endeavor in that direction.

Most Indians understand a variety of Indian languages. Also, when we all live together in India, it is commonplace for a number of languages to be spoken in our immediate environments and therefore, we sometimes begin to take these for granted. To be away from your home country and to be able to celebrate these languages in a unique opportunity and celebration that Rangmanch attempts to create for you.

The theatre will showcase local talent, a team of highly motivated men and women who are giving up their time and energy to bring this festival together. This marks a great opportunity for all Indians to come together and celebrate this festival of diversity and to bring along your friends from other cultures and ethnicities to witness and appreciate the richness of your culture.

Indian Weekender supports this brilliant initiative and watch out for regular updates on the event in our subsequent issues. Should you wish to be a part of this unique event as a participant, sponsor, ambassador/ promoter etc. contact us at editor@indianweekender.co.nz