Actors perform the play at Kalidas Rangalay in Patna on Friday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Jan. 14: The 20th Patna Theatre Festival kicked off today at Kalidas Rangalay.

“We are celebrating the 95th anniversary of our founder, Anil Kumar Mukherjee, who passed away on June 28, 1991. We have started celebrating his birthday with a theatre festival,” said Pradip Kumar Ganguli, the assistant secretary of Kalidas Rangalay.

“We want to keep the spirit of theatre alive in the city. That is what kaku (uncle) — as Mukherjee was known to his associates — wanted,” added Ganguli.

Giriraj Singh, the minister of fisheries and husbandry, inaugurated the seven-day-long festival. The audience were treated to Kathputli, a play written by Mukherjee and directed by Ajit Bhai Theatrewala .

“The story revolves around a woman named Nirmala, a housewife. She kept a thing secret from her husband. It caused a lot of problems and confusion later in her life,” said Suman Patel, the assistant director of the play.

Patel said the play was inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s seminal drama A Doll’s House.

Patel added: “For instance, she had taken a loan for the treatment of her husband, Chakrapani. But she cannot tell him that because she fears her egotistical husband would not understand. On the other hand, a person starts blackmailing her because he knows her secret. Finally, she is forced to leave the house.”

Patel, a recipient of a central scholarship for theatre, said: “This play has all the flavours in it. It is a reflection of a middleclass home, and thus appeals to the audience.”

Ganguli also spoke at length about the light and the background score of the play.

“The light and the music play a pivotal role in the production. It provides clarity and momentum to the performance. Tension between the characters has been depicted by the use of red light. Blue has been used to depict Nirmala’s secret. Music has been used to depict the pathos in the climax of the play,” said Ganguli.

Suman Saurab, a member of the audience, said: “I loved the performance. The subtle layered script was very entertaining.”

The other plays that the audience can see at the play fair are Hunste-Hunste (directed by Pankaj Singh), Amli (Rajeev Ranjan Shrivastav), Mime Centre (Kamal Naskar), Urvashi (Upendra Kumar) and Andher Nagri (Neeraj Kumar).