Bhubaneswar, April 3: City-based group International Theatre is trying to enrol its name in the Guinness World Records for staging 50 plays at the same time at 50 places across the state.
The plays were staged on World Theatre Day on March 27. They had made preparations for over months. Plays were staged in all the 30 districts of the state.
Out of 50, around 10 plays were staged in Bargarh district, two in Bhubaneswar, one near Sunderpada and another at the Utkal University. Around four plays were staged in Khurda and two in Cuttack.
"We had spoken to officials of the Guinness Records and came to know that something like this has never been done before. The idea came to us as theatre is quite popular in our state," said director of International Theatre Mihir Meher.
The organisation that has been working since 1975 had roped in artistes from various theatre organisations across the state to make their initiative successful.
"We discussed with all the noted theatre groups of various districts and told them about the concept. All the plays were of two hours duration and staged at 7pm. Each of them created their own plays," said Mihir.
The plays were based on a range of subjects, including violence on women, environmental issues, history and adaptations of popular stories by Odia writers. While some were serious, others belonged to the genre of comedy.
The biggest challenge that the team faced was arranging theatre halls. "Since it was Theatre Day, most of the prominent halls were booked. While at many places, we had booked it in advance, in other districts we had to arrange for alternative places. A number of plays were staged at college and university auditoriums. In fact, at other places we created open-air theatres to make the initiative successful," said Meher.
A member from International Theatre was present during the staging of each of the plays. "We wanted to make sure that all the guidelines were followed and all the plays start and end at the same time," said the theatre activist.
Now, with everything dome successfully, the group is going to write to the Guinness Book authorities about their feat.
