Balangir: Theatre lovers had the opportunity to watch the acts of Bollywood actor Raghubir Yadav when the Ryan Repertoire of Mumbai staged Piano, a play, in the opening evening of multilingual national theatre festival Mathkhai Mahotsav here on Sunday.

The play depicts the issue of loneliness that has grappled the society.

The plot is set in the 1970's which was the era of landline phones. It revolves around an elderly man, who lives alone in a society in old Mumbai and his attempts to overcome loneliness. The man, whose wife had deserted him, worked in a library and returned to his empty room every evening. He has neither any acquaintances nor friends. One day, he sees an advertisement in the newspaper about the sale of a piano.

He contacts the seller over telephone, which is answered by a lady. He then calls up the lady again and again in the guise of various persons interested in buying the piano. The play, a dark comedy, explores the glimpses of two lonely lives only through telephonic conversations. The play has only two characters, the man played by Yadav and the lady played by his wife Roshni Achreja. His son Abir Yadav makes a special appearance as a narrator in the beginning and also at the end of the play.

Raghubir mesmerised the audience with his act of various persons he played during the phone calls.

The set and light played an important role setting the mood of the play. The play is the Hindi adaptation of the French play Stainway Grand written by Ferene Karinthy. Talking about the play, Yadav said: "It is all about one's loneliness and the way he fights it."

Himanshu Panigrahi, a theatre lover, said it was great watching such a play. "It was of different taste. Here, we can't get to watch various kinds of plays. It was worth the time," he said.

After the play, Mathkhai Mahotsav Samiti chairman and MLA Narasingha Mishra felicitated the members of the troupe.