Nitya Choubey

If you’ve ever accidentally spent an entire day around Mandi House in February, you already know what the Bharat Rang Mahotsav feels like. Darting between auditoriums, clutching paper tickets, debating a play they just watched over chai – it’s when the Delhi theatre neighbourhood really comes alive. And it’s that time of the year again – the National School of Drama’s (NSD) flagship festival returns on January 27. It’s India’s largest theatre festival, so the NSD is most definitely lining up performances beyond the capital, though Delhi’s got the lion’s share (no surprises there). You can catch plays at select locations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata. But what’s interesting is that this year, the fest marks a new milestone – for the first time, a couple of productions are heading to Sri Lanka, marking its first international outing ever. Over the years, Bharat Rang Mahotsav has hosted everything from large-scale repertory productions and reinterpretations of classics to stripped-back experimental work, late-night performances and international collaborations. It’s also been a space where regional theatre travels. Audiences have been able to discover work in languages they don’t speak, and theatre-makers have found new audiences far from home. So when and where can you actually watch something?The festival runs from January 27 to February 20, with multiple plays often scheduled on the same day. In Delhi, most venues sit within walking distance of each other in the