Amritsar festival pays tribute to late playwright Jatinder Brar on World Theatre Day

American actor Willem Dafoe, a popular face in Hollywood and widely known for playing the Green Goblin in Spider-Man, delivered the official 2026 World Theatre Day message for the International Theatre Institute. The acclaimed actor, who has strong roots in theatre, urged theatre-makers to resist the commercialisation of art in an increasingly divided world, emphasising theatre’s power to connect people, communities and cultures. As a founding member of The Wooster Group, a highly influential avant-garde theatre company in New York, Dafoe highlighted the “necessity of presence,” stressing that theatre should feel alive and unpredictable.

In Amritsar, at the ongoing 26th edition of the National Theatre Festival, eminent theatre personality Kewal Dhaliwal read out Dafoe’s message to the audience, which included many senior and budding artistes. The message reflected the ideology and dedication with which the late Jatinder Brar, an acclaimed and award-winning Punjabi playwright, nurtured and championed the cause of theatre in Amritsar.

The theatre festival, hosted by Dhaliwal’s theatre group Manch-Rangmanch Amritsar in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala; the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of India; the Language Department, Punjab; and the Virsa Vihar Society, is dedicated to Jatinder Brar, who recently passed away after a prolonged illness. Known as the “Baba Bohr” of Punjabi theatre in the city, he gave experimental theatre a permanent home in the form of Punjab Natshala — a space that has grown significantly in stature over the years.

The first Shri Jatinder Brar Memorial Award at the event was presented to renowned playwright Dr Atamjit, a leading modern Punjabi dramatist. His award-winning play ‘Tatti Tawi Da Sach’, inspired by the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji — who was made to sit on a hot plate (tatti tawi) as a form of torture by the Mughals — is still regarded as an important work in Punjabi theatre and history. Remembering Brar, Dr Atamjit said, “Jatinder Brar was a man with a vision — for Punjabi theatre and for society at large. He believed in the collective development of theatre, connecting local communities and supporting artistes through Punjab Natshala.”

Echoing his sentiments, Kewal Dhaliwal, who had worked closely with Brar, said, “His loss is like losing a parent for many of us here, as he nurtured and introduced numerous talented artistes from Amritsar to the world. Largely, theatre comes with a silent resilience, but to ensure it cultural continuity, it must also balance traditional forms with modern ideas.” He added that this was a concept Brar brought to life through many technical advancements at Punjab Natshala, which evolved from a humble open-air cultural space into a modern, thriving theatre hub.

The plays staged during the festival also strike a balance between social responsibility and artistic excellence, connecting history with the present while maintaining high production values. Aniat Shabdeesh’s play on Gadarite Gulab Kaur, the Punjabi play ‘Bhar’, written by Maninder Kang and directed by Kewal Dhaliwal, revisited the memories of 1984 — the brutality, state-sponsored persecution, violence by radical elements, and the suffering of innocent children. These performances represent the kind of theatre that shakes your conscience but also mesmerises you with it production value.

“To make the presentation of this play more vivid and poignant, I have included poetry written during the days of terror by Sukhchain Mistry, Pal Kaur, and Ajaib Singh Hundal. Through these poems, the sensitivity of the narrative, as well as the government’s oppression and the atrocities committed against innocent people, have been presented in a vivid manner,” said Dhaliwal.