Artistes of Rangaloka group perform the play Chor in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 5: A conversation between a judge and thief becomes the theme of Odia play Chor that was staged on the first three days of July as part of the Natyadhara series at Bhanja Kala Mandap.

The play was an adaptation of a Marathi play by Shankar Shesh. Although not an out-and-out comedy, the play presented by Bhubaneswar-based group Rangaloka, was replete with satire.

The scene opens with a judge going to sleep after reading a book. The moment he catches sleep, he hears a thumping sound and finds a man throwing his books from his rack. The said man introduces himself as a thief. The thief, played by director-cum-actor Duryadhan Sahu, asks the judge (whose role was essayed by different actors on different days) about the latter’s most expensive items.

As the judge lists him his most pricey things, the thief rejects them all as he finds none of them valuable and says that theft of invaluable things will not help him land up in prison. Intrigued by his tenacity to go behind the bars, the judge asks him the reason. The thief retorts that compared to the struggle of outside world, jails are a relatively peaceful place.

Another play titled Kokua staged yesterday by Cuttack-based group Trinetra at Rabindra Mandap turned out to be too loud for the taste of urban audience. The histrionics and the blaring background score made it look like jatra. It is the story of an honest teacher in a tribal area whose efforts to educate the tribals do not go down well with the local politicians.

They sack him but the teacher opens a hermitage where he starts teaching. One day a Maoist seeks shelter there and, under the guidance of the teacher, gives up violence. But soon the reformed Maoist finds himself split between police and his former friends.