A scene of Mo Shaba Kanduchhi during jatra festival in Rourkela. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 25: Residents of Rourkela are witnessing a jatra (open-air folk theatre) festival being staged by amateur artistes of the city.

The 19th edition of the festival is a one-of-its-kind contest among the jatra performing troupes.

All troupes include local artistes. The festival organisers are holding a competition among the troupes to reward the best team, original script and performers, including local female artistes, to spot hidden talents.

“We organise this jatra festival, which bears the mark of our local culture and tradition. All the artistes are part-timers and belong to Rourkela city. Due to conservative mindset in the region, only a handful of women actresses take part in the festival, and hence, we encourage them with awards,” said Mihir Ray, president of the Padmabarna Sanskrutika Sangathan, the organising committee.

The troupes choose various themes ranging from mythology, historical events to modern socio-economic situations. Earlier, the participants used to choose modern topics. But, the organisers requested them to add mythological and historical themes. This year, a team, which has been using Koshali language of western Odisha to communicate, has selected a mythology-based theme. On the first night, the Koshal Natak Parishad of Sector-VI staged Raja Govinda Chandra.

“Mythological tales can be used to inspire the people to follow ethical values, and hence, we chose one such theme,” said scriptwriter Goutam Mahananda.

On the second night, the Omm Shreesai Natya parishad of Sector-II staged Mo Shaba Kanduchhi, a modern play centred on the current socio-economic situation.

An organiser said these were free shows for those audience, who could watch the plays sitting on the ground. But those, chair view would cost Rs 10. Every night, over 3,000 people come to watch the shows that begin in the evening and end by midnight as each troupe gets four hours 15 minutes to perform.

“Local people perform the plays with a traditional touch in dialogues and presentation. My family and I will watch all the shows this week,” said local resident Santosh Parida.