Artistes of Indian People’s Theatre Association, Calcutta, perform Magic — The Victory of Childhood at Premchand Rangshala in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Curtains went down on the Rashtriya Bal Rang Mahotsav 2012, a theatre festival, on Wednesday at Premchand Rangshala in Patna on a high note. Performers from 15 theatre groups from across the country, which took part in the festival, returned feeling like one extended family.

Besides Bihar, performers had come from Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bengal, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for the four-day festival. Hosted by Kilkari Bal Bhavan, a unit of the state education department, the festival was organised as part of the Bihar Divas celebrations.

Chayan De, a member of Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), Calcutta, said: “Never did we feel that we were from different groups while we stayed at Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan (in the Saidpur area). We felt we were from different groups only during our performances. Rest of the time, we were like one family.”

He added that every group tried to help each other in case of a problem.

“The venue, Premchand Rangshala, had some problems with lighting arrangements. But our director, Debashish Dutta, a genius with lighting, not only helped us but also the other groups to ensure their performances did not suffer. He could have avoided the problems of the rest of the groups, but he didn’t because we all had developed a very strong bond,” De said.

The credit of helping out each other was not Dutta’s alone, however.

De added: “I used to ask Gurvinder Singh (the team leader of the theatre group from Punjab) for tips on delivering dialogues as he was superb with dialogue delivery. The festival was really an exchange of knowledge.”

On the storyline of the play they staged on Wednesday, De said: “The play depicts a village that has many humorous characters. A ghost, Aambhut, also lives in a mango orchard at the village. One day a magician arrives in the village, after which there is a tussle between the ghost and him, as they try to establish who is more powerful. The conflict gives way to funny situations, as the ghost and magician finally realise their mistake in the end.”

Gurvinder Singh, the team leader of the Bohemian Theatre Pupil Group, Punjab, said the festival gave a platform for cultural exchange to the participants. “Different theatre groups from different states came to the festival. As we lived with each together, we came to know each other’s culture very closely. It was really the best part of the festival.”

While the inaugural day of the festival was held at the Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan, plays on the remaining three days were staged at Premchand Rangshala.

Five plays — Living Statue, In Search of a Beautiful Light, Magic — The Victory of Childhood, Padhai par karo chadhai and Juta Chakram were performed on Wednesday by two groups of Kilkari Bal Bhavan, IPTA, Calcutta, Curio from Rajasthan and the Patna-based Hajju Musical Group, respectively.

Mukul Vibhushan, the in-charge of the drama section of Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan, said every theatre group that took part in the festival were given mementos and a certificate on Wednesday.