Welcome to Thespo 12

Welcome to Thespo 12

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
(Last line from the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams.)

Once again, not for the first time since 1999, Thespo found itself struggling to make ends meet. Team Thespo knocked on many doors and waited in numerous swanky corporate reception lobbies. We were offered a variety of items from a cup of coffee to 4,000 packets of potato chips! But no cash.

So we took a desperate leap of faith and turned to the world at large with our FRIENDS OF THESPO initiative. We first approached ex-participants, ex-volunteers and the ever dependable theatre community with a unique proposition. We offered them part ownership of Thespo for a nominal amount in exchange for a t-shirt, magazine and 2 free tickets to one of the shows. The response was reassuring. But what was overwhelming was the outpouring of support – from strangers, from one time audience members, from musicians, from theatre practitioners in foreign lands. It has been a truly humbling and energising two weeks. We are still far from the target amount. But the clock has been re-wound and we are ready to strike Twelve!

About Thespo


Thespo is an annual youth theatre festival. All the participants at Thespo have to be under 25 years of age. It is a platform for any and every young person under 25 who is interested in any and all aspects of theatre. Except for the age limit, Thespo firmly believes in including youth from all parts of the world, all fields, all language groups and all art forms who share a love for theatre. Even the workshops conducted at the festival are free of cost in order to widen its reach and make theatre accessible to everyone. The festival magazine is sold at a highly subsidised rate and student tickets are priced nominally in order to fulfil the aims of Thespo.

Thespo is held every December in Bombay where scores of participants under 25 years of age come together to organise a national theatre festival, stage full length productions, short performances in informal spaces, attend workshops, build bridges across different schools of theatre, find friendships across thousands of miles, learn about theatre/life/themselves, form a living thriving dynamic community of likeminded young individuals. At the end of the festival, awards and cash prizes are presented in various acting, writing, directing and production categories as an added incentive.
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