 |
| Artistes stage Tote jhure mun rati dina and (below) Samnare Satyabhama at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati |
Bhubaneswar, Feb. 23: The sixteenth edition of Kalinga Natya Mahotsav, the national-level multilingual drama festival, is providing a platform to diverse genres of theatre.
Organised by city based theatre troupe, Satabdira Kalakar, the weeklong festival is focusing on the works of noted playwright Ratiranjan Mishra.
On the inaugural day, it was Rudhadwara, a poignant drama by the host team.
The play showcased the murky business of power hungry and callous politicians. Directed by Dhira Mallick, the play tactfully presented how politicians can mislead people and prod them to go to war against each other and they do it all just to hide their own weaknesses.
The next two days saw city-based groups Ranga Bhumi presenting Tote jhure mun rati dina and Ranga Karmee showcasing Samnare Satyabhama. While the former was a rib -tickling comedy, the latter was replete with sarcasm.
Directed by Prasant Mahapatra, the play by Ranga Bhumi narrated a story of a man who loves to chew on paan (betel leaf).
The protagonist, Sanjay is a paan lover. His love is despite his father Sankarshan dying of paan-induced cancer.
| |
However, his uncle wants him to continue eating paan so that Sanjay meets the same fate as his father. His greedy uncle wants to acquire his father’s property. Sanjay has a friend who sells paan, but warns him about the devious plans of his uncle.
Though a little juvenile in its treatment, the slapstick made the viewers laugh out loud.
On the third day, Kailash Mahapatra’s Samnare Satyabhama told the story of a rape victim named Satyabhama. An advocate Rajat and his journalist friend stand against the rapist, who happens to be the son of the sarpanch.
But Rajat is also an aspiring politician, so whether he is helping the girl out of sympathy or for some personal benefit is revealed later.
The journalist is also the narrator in the story, which is a novel concept as he keeps switching his role. Copying the tone and tenor of a film, the play might have been long shot from basic elements of theatre, but was able to connect with the audience.
Sita directed by Abhinna Routray of city-based Uttar Purush and Satarka Sanghamitra, a Hindi play by New Delhi-based Utsav group and directed by Sukumar Tudu, staged two women-centric plays on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“The festival is nearing conclusion and it has been able to enthral the theatre lovers with the variety it has presented,” said Sanjay Pattanayak, a theatre enthusiast.