Artistes of Magic Theatre Group stage a Hindi play Chetabani on Panchamveda Theatre Festival at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 14: The Magic Theatre Group set the stage on fire — both metaphorically and literally. They presented a play titled Chetabani, in which the production incorporated many stunts that received appreciation for its sheer novelty.

The Hindi play also called the curtains on the five-day theatre festival of Panchamveda. Written and directed by Pragyan Ranjan Khatua, a comedian par excellence, the play was based on the misuse of science and technology.

Khatua, portraying the role of an evil scientist, is done with Earth and now wishes to switch to Mars. He causes worldwide destruction with atomic wars. This causes the aggrieved Mother Earth to summon Science and chides him for his lost sense of purpose.

Science explains to her that this is the devious plan of the humans and that his aim has always been to create a better society for them.

Science decides to take on the evil scientist. In the climax, the atoms that were given human forms revolt against the scientist and destroy him. An effigy was burnt on the stage as part of the symbolism.

The play that was replete with synchronised moves, acrobatics, props and loud music was a long shot from the conventional theatre that Odia populace usually witnesses and it received accolades for its brave attempt.

“The kids are here to teach us lessons. They are turning a new page in Odia theatre,” said veteran artist Asim Basu.

The play had only one flaw — the Hindi dialogues had plenty of grammatical errors.

The organisers felicitated five personalities — veteran musician Prafulla Kar, playwrights Saileswar Nanda and Subodh Patnaik and actors Raju Padhy and Mamata Mohanty. More than 100 artistes took part in the festival that saw teams from Jatni, Dhenkanal, Rourkela and Bhubaneswar presenting their plays.

“The festival staged many plays that evoked contemporary issues. The last play even showed that the style of presentation had come of age,” said Bushan Biswal, a theatre enthusiast.