(From top) Bhanja Kala Mandap at Kalpana Square in Bhubaneswar and scenes from a play. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 22: Bhanja Kala Mandap has not hosted a play for more than five years now. But the curtains will rise again in the auditorium that has been lying idle since 2005.

An announcement was made to this effect by the state culture department. In a discussion last week with members of the Odisha Natya Sangha — a group of dramatists from all over the state — culture department officials planned to take other steps for its development.

Bhanja Kala Mandap will be open for theatre groups from all over the state and the auditorium can be booked without payment for staging plays thrice a month. The auditorium that was earlier leased to the Utkal Rangamancha Trust for staging plays three days a week used to be vibrant in the later half of the 1990s.

Dramatists will also be staging plays at Rabindra Mandap on the third Sunday of every month, without having to pay for the auditorium.

“These facilities will be immensely helpful to dramatists across the state, especially those in interior pockets, since they can stage their plays in the capital. The facilities will be available for Oriya theatre only,” said Abhinna Routray, dramatist and member of Odisha Natya Sangha that has 150 amateur theatre groups from all over the state as its members.

“During the discussion, culture minister Prafulla Samal promised us he would take more steps to promote theatre. The discussion was jjalso attended by theatre personalities such as Asim Basu, Chandrasekhar Nanda, Haren Sahu and Niranjan Sahu,” he said.

Another initiative of the culture department has been to create a fund of Rs 5 lakh with the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi to host plays and maintain auditoriums across the state. While many dramatists have welcomed the decision with open arms, senior theatre personalities have their reservations and believe this is not enough.

“The steps announced are one way of supporting theatre since the Bhanja Kala Mandap auditorium will at least be used. But if the department is really keen, they need a panel to make sure the entire process is a professional exercise,” said Ananta Mohapatra, noted theatre personality and founder member of the Utkal Rangamancha Trust. “The step lacks vision since it will be promoting amateur productions without being aware of the standards. The authorities should ensure quality if they want to revive theatre,” he said.

Veteran dramatist Surya Mohanty echoed Mohapatra’s thoughts. “Letting out auditoriums for free without any awareness on contemporary theatre among the theatre groups will not help much. We urgently need regular workshops on playwriting, production and stage crafting or the standards of the plays staged will not improve much,” he said.