Panchamveda stages Manisha Haata at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 10: The 10th edition of Panchamveda’s annual state-level theatre festival commenced with a beautiful performance by the hosts at Bhanja Kala Mandap last evening.

The play, Manisha Hata, directed by Prakash Maharana and penned by Bijay Mishra, narrates the story of hundreds of villagers, who flock to cities looking for work and better future.

Neti, a girl who runs a tea stall, and Boida, a chain-smoking local goon, control the management of “manisha hata” that literally means “human market”. The reference is to the situation of labourers being hired for various assignments.

Among the workers is a mason named Somnath and Monika, a labourer, who fall in love. In the daily battle for survival, the lovers find peace in each other’s arms. Misery befalls them when Somnath goes away for few days to attend the wedding of a relative.

In his absence, Monika falls for Lenka babu, an affluent man. On his return, Somnath goes mad and wants to kill Monika. However, he has no idea that Lenka babu actually used Monika as a pawn in his drug-peddling business.

Ashamed by her act, Monika heads to the railway track to commit suicide. Boida breaks the news to Somnath who runs to stop her. But in his attempt to save her, they both die.

“The message of this play is that villagers do not understand the beauty of the rural life. In the urban set up, they eventually lose their sense of morality and sanity,” said Maharana.

Pratap Rout scored the music and Asim Basu designed the sets. The audience appreciated the play that was a fresh presentation by the troupe.

On the subsequent days, troupes such as Sankalpa from Rourkela, Charlie Chaplin Cultural Club from Dhenkanal and Uttarayani Club from Jatni will stage their presentations. The festival will end with Chetabani, a Hindi play directed and written by Pragyan Khatua. It will be staged by Bhubaneswar-based troupe Magic Theater.

The organisers will felicitate veteran musician Prafulla Kar, playwrights Saileswar Nanda and Subodh Patnaik and actors Raju Padhy and Mamata Mohanty on the last day.