Shared Stories, Shared Futures: How India’s Cultural Diplomacy Lit Up New Delhi Through BRICS Theatre Festival

New Delhi: In the soft autumn light of New Delhi this October, the National School of Drama became more than a stage. It turned into a living corridor of diplomacy. From 12 to 14 October 2026, the BRICS Theatre Festival 2026 unfolded under the theme “Shared Stories, Shared Futures,” gathering artists, scholars and cultural representatives from nine BRICS member and partner countries. Organised by the Ministry of Culture under India’s BRICS Presidency, the festival followed the successful BRICS Summit in the capital and quietly demonstrated a truth often overshadowed by geopolitics: culture can open doors that formal negotiations sometimes leave ajar.

India assumed the BRICS Presidency for 2026 with the guiding theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The Culture Track of that presidency prioritises collaboration in the creative industries, protection of heritage, and the role of culture in sustainable development. The Theatre Festival was its most visible expression. Participating nations -- India, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Iran, Vietnam, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia -- sent theatre schools, repertory companies and leading practitioners. Over three days, more than 500 participants presented eleven national and international plays, academic sessions, workshops and ambient folk performances that filled auditoriums and open spaces across the city.

The opening ceremony on 12 October carried the weight of that intent. Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the chief guest, spoke with measured clarity. “We meet today at a moment of considerable consequence for the international community. At a time when nations are increasingly compelled to navigate competing interests, spaces for mutual understanding and constructive dialogue become more precious than ever before,” he said. He continued, “While diplomacy enables nations to negotiate and economic cooperation helps them prosper, culture enables societies to understand one another. It creates connections that transcend political boundaries. Even when our histories, languages and traditions differ, it is this conviction that gives the BRICS Theatre Festival significance beyond the performing arts.”

Ambassadors and heads of mission from the participating countries filled the hall. The message was unmistakable: India’s presidency was not only about summits and communiques. It was also about people meeting people through stories.

That evening the festival opened with Samudra Manthan, written by Asif Ali and designed, directed by National School of Drama Director Chittaranjan Tripathy. Staged at NSD's Abhimanch Auditorium, the production set the tone for a programme that would move across classical, contemporary and experimental forms.

Day two deepened the exchange. In the morning, Padma Shri Dr Bharat Gupt, Vice Chairperson of the NSD Society, led a session on the Natyasastra, unpacking the enduring concepts of rasa, bhava and abhinaya. NSD Director Chittaranjan Tripathy and Associate Professor Ajay Kumar followed with an exploration of musical theatre’s confluence of music, drama and movement. These academic conversations were not ornamental. They placed India’s classical dramaturgy in dialogue with contemporary practice from partner nations, affirming that soft power begins with mutual respect for intellectual traditions.

The performances that followed illustrated the breadth of that dialogue. Russia’s State Academic Central Puppet Theatre named after S. V. Obraztsov presented Circus on Strings, a 45-minute marionette spectacle of clowns, acrobatic monkeys and a fire-breathing flying camel that delighted both children and adults at the LTG Auditorium. Vietnam offered Đất Thép Củ Chi (Steel Land), written and directed by Prof. Lê Quý Duong. Narrated through the soul of an American soldier, the 85-minute play recounted the sacrifice of Heroic Mother Nguyễn Thị Rành and the people of Củ Chi, speaking of resilience without rhetoric. Iran closed the evening with Hidden, a 90-minute postmodern mystery by Reyhaneh Razi and Kourosh Shahone. Its all-white domestic set, stark lighting and carefully composed sound turned a blind man’s birthday surprise into a quiet study of tension and tragedy.

Throughout the day, Indian folk artists performed alongside their international guests. Kalbeliya dancers from Rajasthan, Mask Baan and Dhol Damau from Uttarakhand, Sambalpuri performers from Odisha and Bhangra groups from Punjab moved through festival venues, turning corridors and courtyards into informal stages of welcome.

On the final day the festival reached its emotional and symbolic peak. Ethiopian National Theater presented Land of the Ancients. South Africa’s Waterfront Theatre School, Cape Town, brought Someone, directed by Tandi Buchan. Kazakhstan’s M. Auezov Kazakh National Drama Theatre staged Kya Zhibek. Ambient performances expanded to include Bihu from Assam, Chhau and Mayurbhanj Chhau, and Manipuri dance, further weaving India’s regional diversity into the international tapestry.

The closing ceremony was attended by Ministry of Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal as chief guest, joined by Joint Secretary Arvind Kumar. The National School of Drama Repertory Company then presented Louha Purush, a large-scale Hindi production on the life and legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, again under Chittaranjan Tripathy’s music, design and direction. The choice was deliberate: a story of national integration offered to an audience of artists from nine nations at the close of a festival dedicated to shared futures.

Beyond the curtain calls, morning workshops and interactive sessions allowed directors, actors and technicians to discuss artistic vision, acting methodologies and stagecraft. These exchanges, quiet and practical, may prove the festival’s most lasting contribution. They create the professional relationships that outlive any single event and plant the seeds of future co-productions.

The National School of Drama, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, served as nodal agency with quiet competence. By hosting institutions rather than isolated troupes, and by pairing performances with rigorous discussion, NSD ensured the festival remained both celebratory and substantive.

In the broader arc of India’s BRICS Presidency, the Theatre Festival stood as a clear demonstration of diplomatic craft. Where hard power asserts, soft power invites. Where official statements can harden positions, shared stories soften them. The nine countries arrived with distinct languages, histories and theatrical vocabularies. They left having watched one another’s narratives, debated craft, and stood together in applause.

Culture does not replace diplomacy. It equips it. In a world of competing interests, India used three days of theatre in New Delhi to remind its BRICS partners -- and itself -- that understanding is not a luxury. It is infrastructure. The stages have gone dark, but the conversations they enabled continue. Shared stories, after all, do not end when the lights fade. They travel home with the artists who carried them, and they prepare the ground for the next meeting -- blending artistic sensibilities with diplomacy.