Bhubaneswar, Oct. 18: An array of plays with interesting storylines is winning hearts of theatre-lovers here.

A city-based theatre troupe staged the play Ghatak at their annual function held at Rabindra Mandap here last week. The play, directed by theatre activist Haren Sahoo and written by Gopal Chhotray, is a fascinating tale on the role of go-between in marriages.

"There was a time when match-makers had a huge role to play in the society. But with advent of Internet and other social networking sites, their position is gradually losing importance. So, we want to portray how they are trying hard to retain their status in the society in a comical manner," said Sahoo.

With impressive dialogue delivery and funny body language, the artistes put up a good show.

Also, students from various colleges in the city staged a play portraying the life of the youngest martyr of the country, Baji Rout, at the open-air auditorium Ekam Haat last week.

The play was staged to mark the 77th death anniversary of Rout.

The students, who are a part of the young theatre troupe Sambhaba, skilfully enacted the scene where British soldiers killed the 12-year-old boy from Nilakanthpur village of Dhenkanal when he refused to transport them across the Brahmani river.

The play also showcased various prominent incidents during the freedom struggle. The young actors also sang and danced to a number of patriotic songs at the evening titled Ek Sham Desh Ke Naam.

The audience loved the show. "We got to see something really touching. It is good that the young generation is taking steps to uphold the history of the freedom struggle through performing arts which is a good communication medium," said Sarita Routray, who was in the audience.

Natya Chetana staged Aabu, a play based on a story written by Manoj Das. It has become the talk of the town. The play raises questions about the ill effects of greed for money and fame among the people through symbolic use of aabu, meaning a tumour.

This is one of the most popular productions of the troupe and was first staged in 1996. They had recently incorporated some changes in the play that was staged at the fest.

"A lot of changes have been made to make the play more appealing. We have made use of mask as a communicator, along with making changes in the setting," said director Subodh Patnaik.