The Nights brings a new pulse to the Sabhagar Theatre Festival

The Sabhagar Theatre Festival returns to Kolkata this November with a renewed commitment to thoughtful and imaginative stage work. Held from 12 to 16 November 2025 at G D Birla Sabhagar, the festival will showcase five productions from across the country.

The line up includes Meanwhile Elsewhere by Darpana from Ahmedabad, Meghe Dhaka Ghatak by Chetana from Kolkata, Kaumudi by D for Drama from Mumbai and Autobiography by Prime Theatre Company from Mumbai. At the heart of this edition is The Nights by Katkatha Puppet Theatre from Delhi, directed by Anurupa Roy. Roy is widely celebrated as one of the most inventive voices in contemporary puppetry in India. She does not see puppetry as the simple control of figures.

For her, it is a meeting place of sculpture, masks, objects, bodies, sound and story. She treats puppets and actors as partners on stage, each influencing the mood and the momentum of the piece.The Nights reflects this vision with clarity and intensity. Written by playwright Neel Chaudhuri along with writer Adithi Rao, the work revisits the world of Scheherazade from the collection One Thousand and One Nights. Instead of presenting the familiar tales, the production focuses on Scheherazade herself.

She becomes a survivor, a witness and a woman who uses storytelling as a means of presence and protection. The piece explores how stories are shaped by the people who tell them and by the audiences who listen. Some tales have been shared as entertainment in crowded markets. Others have been told to children as lessons. Some have carried the dreams and fears of people who desired power. Through sculpted figures, shifting light and the movement of the performers, The Nights reveals how stories travel across time. With this work at its centre, the Sabhagar Theatre Festival invites Kolkata to experience theatre that is thoughtful, layered and alive.