File picture of an Ojapali performance

Guwahati, Jan. 4: This weekend, curtains will go up on the debut of the oldest form of dramatic art in Assam on the national stage. For the first time, Sattriya Ojapali will be the basis of a play to be performed at the eighth Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the annual theatrical extravaganza of the National School of Drama, in New Delhi, on Saturday.

Working behind the scenes to take this classical art form before a national audience is award-winning director Gunakar Dev Goswami.

Goswami said his play Sati was strictly based on the Ojapali genre and had been selected by the NSD for its freshness of approach and style.

The oldest living exponent of Ojapali and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Lalit Chandra Nath Oja hailed Goswami?s efforts. ?This is very good news for the art form as the podium of NSD will definitely help to revive it,? he said. ?The roots of Assamese theatre, that is ankiya nat or ankiya bhaona, introduced by Srimanta Sankaradev, also developed from Ojapali?.

Ojapali refers to the choral singing by a group of artistes, comprising the oja (master) and pali (assistant). The oja recites verses from the scriptures to the accompaniment of body movements and the palis follow him.

In Assam, the tradition of folk drama, especially Ojapali, is as old as the land itself.

Goswami?s play has also been selected for the Satellite Theatre Festival to be held in Bangalore on January 12.

The 35-year-old director is now conducting research on folk theatre of Assam, sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. He came up with the idea of bringing Ojapali to mainstream theatre as part of his experimental work.

With three awards under his belt, Goswami holds the record for winning the highest number of laurels at the prestigious all-India Multilingual Drama Festival held in Cuttack last year.

?In the Ojapali genre, there is great scope for experimentation. I did the same and tried to bring some degree of innovation into my plays by introducing the Ojapali style,? the director said. ?My play depicts the discrimination meted out to women in our society and Ojapali, with its element of variety, made my work easier.?