Participants enact a scene at the theatre workshop by Uttar Purusha. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 19: Theatre group Uttarpurusha conducted a three-week workshop in the city. The interactive sessions at the workshop trained participants of different age groups in acting, music, dance and direction for theatre.

From engineering students to retired government servants, the participants took classes in drama from veteran resource persons and explored new dimensions of theatre.

“Though science was my choice of profession, acting on stage has always been my passion since schooldays. I even tried my hand at acting in college plays but needed guidance when it came to the logic of fundamentals,” said a participant, Basant Kumar Swain, a third-year engineering student. “Being groomed under the supervision of noted theatre personalities such as, National School of Drama alumnus Dolagobinda Rath, I got to understand the basics of acting and direction,” he said.

Sabyasachi Patnaik, a fine arts student, also finds the workshop interesting.

“We were taught the different facets of theatre with help of the visuals of well-known plays. The resource persons also trained us with practical sessions when we performed few sequences. Overall, the interactive sessions proved to be a wonderful experience,” said the young theatre enthusiast.

Titled Rangabharati, the workshop included sessions by well-known personalities such as, Asim Basu, Himanshu Khatua, Dibakar Mohanty, Prashanta Sharma and Choudhury Jai Prakash. Noted music composer Prafulla Kar and Odissi dancer Aruna Mohanty conducted sessions on music and dance, respectively. Dolagovinda Rath gave training in creative direction while Narayan Sahu was the resource person for theatre literature in Oriya.

The 25 participants of the workshop were trained in the basics of traditional as well as contemporary theatre.

The participants also presented a short composition directed by Rath during the convocation ceremony held on Sunday evening at Utkal Karate School to display the skills they gained at the workshop. Using mostly expressional acting, the artistes showcased how small incidents lead to bigger tensions in the society.

“The workshop was attended by theatre lovers between the age of 20 and 60. It was heartening to see students as well as senior citizens participating in the workshop,” said Pabitra Mohanty, coordinator of the workshop that was held on the premises of the Secretariat Recreation Club.