Bhubaneswar: ‘World Shakespeare Theatre Festival 2026’ inaugurated; KIIT-KISS Tribal Students Lauded
“Our core objective is to ensure that the tribal children, who took the Santali language to the world stage, also perform it on their own soil,” said Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS.
Bhubaneswar: The ‘World Shakespeare Theatre Festival 2026’ was inaugurated in Bhubaneswar today, with Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy attending as chief guest.
Inaugurating the festival, Speaker Padhy praised the talented tribal students of KIIT and KISS for taking Santali language to the global stage and earning laurels for the country. She called KIIT-KISS’s efforts to promote tribal languages “commendable” and said that performing Shakespeare’s plays in Ol Chiki script on international platforms “will certainly be etched in history.”
The event was attended by former MP Niranjan Bishi, Cuttack Mayor Subash Singh, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das, and KIIT & KISS founder Dr. Achyuta Samanta as guests of honour.
After making history abroad, the tribal students are set to showcase their art again on Odisha soil. A 20-member team from KIIT-KISS had earlier represented India at a world-level festival in Romania, where they successfully staged three Shakespearean plays in Santali before participants from 50 countries.
“Our core objective is to ensure that the tribal children, who took the Santali language to the world stage, also perform it on their own soil,” said Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS.
Dr. Samanta informed that after Odisha, the troupe will travel to West Bengal on June 26 to perform the acclaimed plays. The festival aims to celebrate linguistic diversity and highlight how tribal youth are preserving their heritage while excelling on international cultural platforms.
