Lucknow, Dec 12 (IANS): Lucknow will host the 57th All India Prakash Chandra Ghosh Memorial full length Bengali drama competition which will begin at Bengali Club from December 23.

The 18-day event will see teams from New Delhi, Kolkata and other parts of the country.

The plays will begin from 7 pm onwards daily and entry will be free.

Plays including – ‘Rabindranath Tagore’s Kabuliwala, Shree Charankamleshu, Bisharjjan and Mahamaya, Vijay Tendulkar’s Kamala and Utpal Dutt Hari Fathebe will be staged during the competition.

Directors like Shomik Roy, Rajkumar Pal and Gautam Bhattacharya are participating in the competition which will be judged by artists Indrajeet Mitra, Reena Biswas and Prabir Dey.

“There has been a decline in amateur theatre over the years. The festival aims to promote theatre among the youth,” said Bengali Club President Arun Banerjee.

The competition was started in 1963 after the demise of Bengali theatre artist Prakash Chandra Ghosh who had made immense contribution to Bengali theatre.

Famous artists such as Arun Mukherjee, Satya Bandopadhyay, Rudra Prasad Sen Gupta, Neel Mukherjee and Kanchan Malik have participated in the competition over the years.

“It is one the oldest Bengali theatre competitions in the country," said Banerjee.