Guwahati, Oct. 7: Six years after a young National School of Drama (NSD) alumnus from Assam took the initiative to stage the first Naga play, Nisheli, a group of artistes who took part in the pathbreaking venture has come together to materialise their first independent work, aptly titled Ahom Naga.

Rabijeeta Gogoi?s play Nisheli had brought a legendary love story set in the land of folktales, Nagaland, alive on stage in 1999. The play was even selected for the prestigious Bharat Rang Mahotsav Theatre Festival in 2002. The festival is organised by the NSD annually.

However, the latest venture, Ahom Naga, is an attempt to showcase the age-old connection between Assam and Nagaland through a love saga between Ahom king Gadapani and Ao princess Senti Shila.

The play will make its debut at Town Hall, Dimapur, on Tuesday.

?Through this love story, we want to showcase the age-old bond shared by both the states. The medium of theatre is bringing us closer in recent times,? said Ikato Y. Kiho, the director of the play, during his visit to Guwahati.

?Gogoi?s passion for theatre infected us, too,? he asserted.

Ahom Naga narrates the life of Gadapani during his exile from the Ahom kingdom in the neighbouring state of Nagaland during 1670s. As legends go, Gadapani had fallen in love with a beautiful Ao princess, Senti Shila.

Ikato and his troupe ? named Nisheli ? has taken help from their mentor, Gogoi, in preparing the screenplay of the historical drama and designing of the costumes.

Senti Shila is more popularly known as Dalimi in Assam. Gadapani ascended the Ahom throne in 1681 with an Ahom name, Supatpha, and Hindu name Gadadhar Singha. He ruled the kingdom for 15 years.

?The play dwells on Gadapani?s stay in Nagaland. Hence the character of Joymoti, his first wife who sacrificed her life to save his throne, will only be narrated in the background,? said the 22-year-old director.

Ikato decided on making the play after he went through some references to Gadapani in the book A History of Assam by Edward Gait.

?Authentic records in history supplemented by popular legends of a passionate affair between the king and the Naga princess encouraged me to try my hands on a historical saga,? said Ikato.

The role of Gadapani will be enacted by Ikato himself. Asen, another actor from Nisheli, will play the role of Senti Shila.

The play has already been selected for the National Theatre Festival scheduled to be held in Calcutta in December. After its Dimapur show, the play will be staged in Tezpur, the Mecca of Assamese theatre, on October 25.