A scene from Rong. Telegraph picture

A hackneyed story badly told.

That’s Rong, a play about a painter’s disillusionment and later restoration of hope, staged by Dibrugarh-based troupe Shatabdi at a Guwahati auditorium on April 10.

Rong, in a nutshell, can very well be made into a case study of what not to do with a play when you have nothing new to say.

It revolves around a handicapped painter, Amlan, who wallows in despair in a rented room, mostly in front of an unfinished painting of a woman — that of his model and girlfriend who deserted him.

Amlan had lost the use of his leg in an incident which killed his parents — a probable outcome of his brother being a militant.

His landlady, Mrs Phukan, a young, sensitive woman with an eye for art, often visits him — an act of kindness that Amlan detests.

He was beginning to reconcile to his life when a piece of news leaves him stunned.

His Delhi-based long-time friend and fan Girindra has been making money by selling his (Amlan’s) paintings abroad, without telling him.

A new wave of dejection had just began to settle when Mrs Phukan shocks him with her story.

The young woman was gangraped and then forced to marry the leader of the group, a rich businessman who forced her to sleep with others to clinch trade deals.

A widow now, she runs her husband’s business but she still does not know who her son’s father is.

Amlan, she says, had restored her faith in men and as a token of respect she offers herself as a model for his unfinished painting.

The story of a sensitive artist has been told too many times and requires either a twist in the tale or a powerful performance to turn it around.

Rong, by playwright Mridul Sarma, had none.

It lacked the passion and intensity required to bring the characters alive.

Director Dipjyoti Kakati, who played Amlan, was not convincing.

Eva Deka, in the role of Mrs Phukan, lacked clarity of expression and clearly failed to get into the character.

The props were a big disappointment.

Paintings should have aided the narrative in this play. They did not. Even the unfinished portrait of a nude woman failed to move.

The music, however, was impressive.