A scene from Maa. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 8: The theatre calendar began here on a thumping note.

The first major play that was staged at Rabindra Mandap on Tuesday evening showed signs that viewers may expect novelty in formats and storylines this year.

Staged by artistes of a city-based theatre troupe Satabdira Kalakara, the play Maa was based on Maxim Gorky’s landmark novel Mother.

The story began with Nilovna, essayed by artiste Sandhya, been beaten up by her husband, but her son Pavel played by actor Bharat comes to her rescue.

His father, who is a worker and a drunkard, dies shortly and leaves Pavel to be the sole breadwinner for the family.

At the factory, Pavel discovers the power of the working class and starts brainstorming sessions with like-minded people to change the society and the system.

As the play progresses, Pavel, along with fellow comrades, distribute anti-establishment letters, stirs up revolts, gets arrested and is later deported to a distant place. The mother, who initially was perturbed by the actions of his rebel son, later realises that even she is a victim of the vicious circle that his son is trying to break. She, as the title suggests, becomes the ‘mother’ of all comrades.

The play turned out to be a deviation from the usual fare as the whole execution and format had a whiff of fresh air to them. The costumes were able to replicate the mood of Russia. The music scored by Manmath, Pratap and Darpa create an ambience that did justice to the subplots.

Though the actors looked a bit shaky in the beginning, they made up for the lapse later. Director Dhira Mallick, who also designed the set, must to be credited for putting up a wonderfully pleasing show. The Odia translation of the play was done by MP Baishnab Parida.

An official of Satabdira Kalakara said the 16th edition of Kalinga Natya Mahotsav would begin on February 18.