Vijayawada: The first Amaravati Theatre Festival, being hosted in Vijayawada city, was inaugurated in the presence of luminaries from a diverse section of the society on Friday. The festival will run till November 26.
Organised by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism department under the aegis of government of Andhra Pr-adesh, the inaugural saw the presence of AP Legis-lative Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Vijayawada Central MLA Bonda Umamaheshwara Rao.
The launch officially pa-ved the way for the three-day extravaganza comprising of some of the finest theatre acts to be enacted in the city starting at the Tumalapalli Kshetraia Ka-lakshetram Auditorium. Living legends of theatre and film artists Kota Srinivasa Rao, S.K. Misro and Kota Shankara Rao marked their presence to bless the festival success and wished for greater focus to be brought onto art and culture through the Amaravati Theatre Festival.
Bollywood actor Chitran-gada Singh too made her presence felt at the inauguration as she praised the efforts of the government to choose theatre as a key element to promote culture and revisit the history of the state.
“Technology can grow but it will never be able to provide the experience which theatre can. It is a far more real experience where a lot of efforts are painstakingly put in by artists. It is one of the most powerful tools for spreading a positive message and creating awareness,” said Sivaprasada Rao.
District collector B. Lakshmi Kantham, AP Tourism Authority CEO Himanshu Shukla, and AP Creativity and Culture Commission CEO Vijay Bhaskar were also present.
