Plays being staged at Sampark theatre festival in Rourkela. Pictures by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, April 2: A theatre jamboree that gave the art lovers of the city much to rejoice concluded recently.

The Sampark troupe organised the four-day theatre festival that began on the occasion of the World Theatre Day and staged productions of teams that had come from various states at the Civic Centre.

On the inaugural day, the host troupe presented a play titled Apadartha. Penned by Bhaskar Mahapatra and directed by Surendra Padhi, the play talks about how laws protect women in case of harassment, but no such provision has been provided to men.

The next day saw Manushbhoot, a Bengali play that was staged by Mangolic of Calcutta.

The play, which was being staged for 350th time, speaks about an oppressed man and how in an accident he is carelessly declared dead without proper examination. On his return, he is considered a ghost, and those, who used to trouble him earlier, start fearing him. Directed by Samir Biswas, the play was written by late Bengali author Sayed Mustafa Siraj.

Kala Jagran group staged Amali, a Hindi play, on Saturday. The play was much like a street theatre that used lyrics to get their message through. Directed by Rishikesh Sulabh and written by Suman Kumar, it depicts the life of a couple, who respect all communities equally but come in the crossfire of two communities.

On the concluding day of the festival, the Manana Natya Sanstha of Bhubaneswar enthralled the audience with their out-and-out comedy Tinga Budhha.

Directed by Manoj Patnaik, who also played the protagonist, the play narrates the story of a short-tempered old man, who gets enraged on petty issues, but keeps explaining that his anger is justified. The festival concluded with another street play, presented by the host team, in which they showed the story of an incorrigible drunkard and compared his life to the curved tail of a dog.

“A seminar was also held on the concluding day when many theatre enthusiasts deliberated about the importance of niche magazines publishing reports on theatre,” said Surendra Padhi, secretary of the organising team.