Shimla Celebrates 150 Years of Summer Capital. Series of programmes which include theatre festivals, mythological ballets, film festivals and display of army bands to showcase Shimla’s glorious history,” Principal Secretary (Language, Art and Culture) Umpa Chaudhary told IANS.
Shimla Celebrates 150 Years of Summer Capital
Ms.Chaudhary said the programme, named “Shimla Celebrates: 150 years of Summer Capital” would begin with a state-level theatre festival from March 21 to 27.
Theatre groups from the state would stage plays at the British-era Gaiety Theatre, where Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling and legendary actors Prithviraj Kapoor and Balraj Sahni once performed.
From April 14 to 20, a national-level theatre festival will be organised. It will mark the birth anniversary of famous theatre personality Manohar Singh. During the festival, plays by Neelam Mansingh, Rattan Thiem, Naseeruddin Shah, Waman Kendre and the National School of Drama would be staged.
Delhi’s Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra will present mythological ballets from May 23 to 25, while a film festival in collaboration with the information and broadcasting ministry will be organised from June 18 to 25. A music festival would be held from Sept 21 to Oct 4 in collaboration with Punjabi Academy of Delhi.
In May, August, November and December, an Indian Army band will perform to commemorate ‘Shimla Celebrates’. A coffee table book, ‘Har Ghar Kuchh Kehta Hai’ – literally meaning ‘every house tells a story’ – published by the state tourism department in 2010, says the first house was built in Shimla, then a village, in 1822 and it took almost 44 years for the number to grow to 290.
Information Source: IANS
