50 plays in 17 days: Story festival celebrates 35 female authors in Lucknow

Hindustan Times

29-04-2025

Lucknow is hosting a distinctive story festival showcasing stories penned by female authors. Fifty stories by 35 writers are being brought to life as plays at the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Academy, all directed by Sangam Bahuguna and Vikas Srivastava.
"Except for 1-2 writers, all are from Lucknow, and we've been rehearsing for the plays over the past two months. Three stories are staged daily, and on the concluding day, we will present two stories. The endevour is to promote the storytelling and theatre in Lucknow," says Bahuguna.
He portrayed the antagonist in the film Youngistan and has appeared in projects like Madam Chief Minister and Dosti Zindabad.
Another highlight of the festival is that 70% of the actors are women. "Since the stories are written by female authors, the themes are also related to them. In some plays, we have exclusively female actors portraying different characters," adds Bahuguna.
Lucknow-based actor Ambarish Bobby, seen in TV shows like Aur Bhai Kya Chal Raha Hai, has written the anthem of the festival 'Le chal kahaniyon ke safar pe'.
"Since childhood, we have grown up listening to kahaniyan (stories). As we grow older, we become occupied with other things, and these stories often get lost. This festival is an attempt to bring stories to life through plays and we've intentionally kept each play around 30 minutes, as that's the maximum attention span of people of age groups,' he says.
Bahuguna is excited about his attempt to director 50 stories in 17 days, which he hopes will enter record books. 'We are already in talks with record books officials, and they are monitoring the process. My previous endeavour to direct 30 full-length plays in 30 days has also made it to the record books,' he adds.
The festival will conclude on May 7.