Bhubaneswar, March 28: Satyabrata Rout's stage adaptation of cult classic Animal Farm by George Orwell at Rabindra Mandap here has drawn widespread appreciation from the audience.

Those who watched the watched the play yesterday on World Thetre Day admitted that it was extraordinary if compared to the kind of theatre productions usually seen in the state.

The play, a representation of the dystopian vision of society based on the early years of the Soviet Union, is a popular choice for stage directors.

Rout is known for giving an audiovisual presentation to every word in the text. Artistes donned colourful attires related to the situation with the lighting contrast speaking about the circumstances.

A number of cultural personalities such as Anant Mahapatra, Bijay Mishra, Asim Basu and Subodh Patnaik attended the play. It garnered appreciation from everyone present in the crowd. "Such plays give an opportunity to the people to know about classics that they do not get to read otherwise. It was extremely well-co-ordinated and a treat to the eyes," said college student Manisha Nayak.

Rout has earlier staged plays such as Rashomon, Waiting for Godot, Pygmalion and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The veteran, who presently works as an associate professor at the University of Hyderabad, said his heart still longs to return to his homeland. "I never miss any chance to come to my state and stage plays. The appreciation from the crowd that I received is a great source of inspiration," said the National School of Drama alumnus.

A theatre workshop also took place in the morning where young artistes got to interact with veteran theatre directors and know about the various tricks of the trade, organised by the state culture department and the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi.

"Not only productions, we need workshops conducted by personalities who have seen world theatre to hone upcoming actors," added Rout, 58.

A number of theatre personalities were honoured by the group International Theatre at Bhanja Kala Mandap. Actor Sadhu Meher was conferred with the Theatre Samman.