Actors stage Caligula during Ajit Natya Mahotsab-2014 national theatre festival at Bhanja Kala Mandap. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, March 25: Founders of many theatre troupes of the city share a common thread. They are all students of veteran actor Ajit Das.

While most of the theatre troupes organise an annual festival, it has taken their mentor, Das, quite some time to come up with his own. His maiden theatre festival that commenced on Saturday concluded on Monday evening.

The Abhinaya Jagruti Institute of Theatre (AJIT), a 14-year-old theatre troupe, organised the national-level theatre festival for the first time. The three-day cultural extravaganza titled “Ajit Natyamahotsav” took place at Bhanja Kala Mandap and enthralled the art lovers with Odia, Bengali and a Hindi plays.

The host team presented the play Kamalpur Dakaghara on the inaugural evening. The same play was also presented at the Canfest theatre festival in Paradip recently. Das directed the play. It was followed by Calcutta-based Prachyo theatre troupe presenting Caligula in Bengali. The play, originally penned by Albert Camus, narrates the tale of Caligula, the Roman emperor consumed with self-glorification embarking on the path of self-destruction. The play was adapted in a way that it reflected upon the major happenings of the contemporary Bengali society.

The curtains came down on the festival with New Delhi-based Prastav staging Wo subah kabhi to ayegi. Originally penned by Ramesh Panigrahi as Mun, Ame o Amemane, the play showcased the trials and tribulations of the lower and middle class.

Directed by Raj Narain Dixit, the play explored the state of affairs post-Independence, when people succumb to fate but still stare at a bright future.

All the three plays were well appreciated by the audience members. “Theatre festivals encourage innovations and new techniques. We want our artistes to share a common platform with teams from other parts of the country. Next year, we are planning to theme the festival on the works of playwright Bijay Mishra,” said Maya Das, president of the troupe.

The troupe is known for staging productions on classics such as Pratibimba, Revati, Jaydev, Mamu and so on. Their upcoming production is Tapaswini that would be staged in August.