Five Languages, Three Days, One Stage: SAATh Festival Returns to Watertown

WATERTOWN, Mass. — Theater in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi and English will take center stage in Watertown in September as Off-Kendrik presents the fifth annual SAATh Festival, a three-day celebration of South Asian theater and the many languages and cultures represented in the region’s immigrant communities.

The festival, scheduled for Sept. 18-20 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, will bring together theater artists from Greater Boston and across the United States for a diverse lineup of original short works and full-length productions. All non-English performances will feature English supertitles.

Organizers describe SAATh as one of the most diverse celebrations of South Asian theater in the United States, with this year’s festival bringing together an especially broad range of languages and theatrical voices.

The festival opens Friday, Sept. 18, with a Multilingual Minithon, featuring original short plays written, directed and produced by members of the Greater Boston theater community.

The evening will showcase artists from the region’s culturally diverse immigrant communities, with each work offering a distinct perspective and theatrical voice. The program marks a significant expansion of the festival’s multilingual focus, bringing together a range of languages on a single stage.

Saturday’s program, Sept. 19, will feature five plays, including productions from theater groups in Chicago, New Jersey and Columbus, Ohio, alongside two Off-Kendrik productions.

The visiting productions include a Hindi-language work from Chicago, an English-language play from New Jersey and a Bengali production from Columbus. Off-Kendrik will also present separate productions for children and adults.

The Kids-Kendrik production will explore environmental issues, using theater to engage younger audiences with questions about the world around them.

For adults, Off-Kendrik will present a searing anti-war play by acclaimed Bengali playwright Badal Sircar, directed by Chandan Sen, a prominent figure in Bengali theater from Kolkata. The production reflects Off-Kendrik’s focus on bringing socially relevant subjects to the stage and engaging audiences with issues that extend beyond the theater.

Sunday, Sept. 20, will bring three additional productions in Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi, followed by a repeat performance of Off-Kendrik’s production.

The Sunday lineup will explore subjects ranging from superstition and the philosophy of existence to the enduring theme of love, offering audiences another cross-section of contemporary South Asian theater.

For Off-Kendrik, the festival is about more than presenting plays in different languages. It is an effort to create a shared theatrical space where communities with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds can see their stories represented while audiences can experience perspectives beyond their own.

The festival also reflects the growing presence of South Asian artists and audiences in the Greater Boston area, where immigrant communities have brought a rich mix of languages, traditions and artistic practices.

To buy tickets, please click here.