Artistes stage Chauthi Raati at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 25: Chauthi Raati, a comic play and the debut production of newly formed troupe Samrrat Sie Kalara Pujhari, tickled the funny bones of the audience on Sunday evening at Rabindra Mandap.

The play revolved around Siddharth and Shubra, who have an arranged marriage, and the tensions and expectations of the nuptial night where the couple is supposed to consummate their marriage.

The night begins with the couple trying to break the ice. Once they feel comfortable talking with each other, discussions are held on a flurry of topics. The bride begins by narrating honeymoon experiences of her grandmother and other anecdotes revolving around marriages.

Interestingly, the bride was shown to have an upper hand, which is a welcome change keeping in mind that Odia theatre rarely has women protagonists. The character of Shubra has a cosmopolitan approach and she is the one who takes a lead and prods her husband to make love. Adding an interesting twist in the story, Siddharth, on the contrary, is conservative and hesitant. He resists the advances of his wife saying, “The night is not over yet”. His attitude creates doubts in Shubra’s mind and she suspects at times that he is impotent.

Replete with humour, the play never loses its momentum and keeps the audience glued.

A few scenes such as Shubra threatening to commit suicide, a friend of Siddharth and the notorious grandmother calling the groom and the bride, respectively, to enquire about their progress of the night or when the groom plays guitar and the bride dances on its tunes and others leave the audience in splits. The play concludes with the couple sorting out their differences.

To its credit, the play also highlights a lot of social issues such as dowry, sex education and gender discrimination. It dwells deeply on the complex relationship between a man and a woman.

Siddharth, played by director and lead actor Sharat Samrrat, gave an excellent performance. Sunanda Parida essayed the character of Shubra with confidence.

Her exaggerated expressions and dialogue delivery struck the right chords with the theatre aficionados. Playwright Panchanan Dash does wonderfully well to keep the pace of the play intact. The set design and music though were average.

“The title of the play was the main draw, but as it turned out it had more meat than a teasing name. The performances were brilliant. The acts were beautifully strung together,” said Ananta Jena, a theatre enthusiast.