Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: The state's theatre scenario is set to receive a boost with the setting up of the Biju Natya Kendra.

The mini theatre complex that has come up at the Nayapalli area of the city, will be inaugurated on Sunday, to promote research in the field of theatre in the state and aims to address the problems of space that theatre groups face.

One of the state's oldest theatre groups in the state - Satabdira Kalakar - is setting up the complex.

"There are very few auditoriums in the city and the problem has been persisting over the last few decades. A number of cultural organisations have mushroomed in the recent past and that has affected the young theatre groups, which cannot afford big auditoriums. There are occasions where these organisations fail to get a booking for a hall on the dates they desire," said the group's founder Dhira Mallick.

Former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik allotted the land to set up the complex in 1993 upon being impressed by the Odia stage adaptation of the Bengali classic Bancharamer Bagan, which the group had performed.

"He really liked the play and I requested him to help us with a piece of land to set up a theatre complex. He assured us that he would look into the matter and the following day, we got a letter from his office," said Darpa Narayan Seth, secretary of the theatre group set up in 1976.

However, the construction of complex was delayed for years after legal issues complicated the group taking ownership of the land.

"As the land was provided in a residential area, the local residents objected to the construction of the complex. But, we contested the case and with the help of a number of theatre enthusiasts, won the case in 2004," he added.

The four-storey building will have a research centre, an auditorium, a conference hall and a guest room.

"Theatre groups can book the auditorium for a nominal amount. A number of theatre artistes come to the state regularly and the guest rooms will be used to host them," he added.

Regular shows will be hosted on weekends from January. The complex will also be used to promote ticketed theatre. The price of the tickets will not be more than Rs 30 and at least one ticketed show will be hosted every month.

"If theatre groups from outside the state or country stage their shows, people would pay money to watch them perform," said Haren Sahoo, founder of Panchamaveda, a prominent theatre group in the state.