Artistes of Swasti Jhankar from Rourkela stage Klanta Vasundhara at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 29: The 14th Kalinga Natya Mahotsav concluded with a thought-provoking drama, Klanta Vasundhara, performed by a Rourkela-based theatre group Swasti Jhankar.

Director Rajib Pani posed some vital questions on humanity, nationality, fraternity and compassion in the play.

Klanta Vasundhara, as the name suggests, spoke of the miseries of the tired Earth, which feels dejected because of the rampant abuse by humans.

Bombing, militancy, misuse of environment, and violence are a few issues that sadden her.

Set against the backdrop of a military camp in the tumultuous regions of two warring countries, Pahad Singh, a monkey transformed into a human by a medical genius, asks military men some vital questions on racism, violence, barbarism and jealousy.

The director communicates the negative repercussions of science and technology through the play.

“Looking at the turmoil the world is facing, I decided to do a story on humanity. The entire team has worked very hard and this is the first time we are performing on such a big platform. It is a boon for our theatre group,” said director Rajib Pani.

All the actors, especially Pahad Singh, who played the role of the monkey-turned-human, did a brilliant job. The stage production was also good.

Sushant Kumar Pani did justice to the background music. However, the sensitive subject and the critical questions could have been posed and directed in a better way.

However, there were numerous loopholes in the script and the play gave no solutions to the questions asked.

There was mixed reaction from the audience at the end of the play.

“It is difficult to say whether I have enjoyed the play or not. But it has definitely left me thinking about which way humanity is headed,” said a viewer, Dhruba Samanta.