Bhubaneswar, June 15: Young theatre aspirants from Koraput district recently got the opportunity to hone their thespian talents at a month-long workshop conducted by veteran theatre activist Surya Mohanty at Sunabeda.

Around 20 schoolchildren between the ages of eight and 14 took part in the workshop, which included lessons on the basics of theatre.

Mohanty gave the youngsters a free hand to explore their creative pursuits with special focus on improvisational theatre.

The workshop focussed on improvising facial expressions and voice modulation, apart from boosting the confidence of the child artistes.

"Taking part in the workshop will be a confidence-building exercise for the youngsters. We are trying our level best to help them open up and shed their inhibitions," said Mohanty, who is an alumnus of the National School of Drama in Delhi.

At the production-oriented programme, the young artistes performed Bhut Nagri, a Hindi play by Gulshan Walia, which was translated into the Odia by Susant Routray. The play was staged in Sunabeda on June 11.

The workshop is being conducted jointly by Theatre Odisha, which is based in Sunabeda, and Mohanty's Mukti theatre group from Bhubaneswar.

A theatre workshop for adults is also being held. A group of two boys and two girls are working on a play - Purna Purusha - that has been adapted into the Odia from one of the plays written by veteran Hindi playwright Mohan Rakesh.

The participants are being given extensive lessons on designing the stage and script writing along with the intricacies of method acting. The play, which deals with the relationship between a man and woman, will be staged at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar on June 23 and June 24.

"Theatre artistes from big cities have a lot of opportunities to showcase their talents but for youngsters in the hinterlands, such occasions are rare. So, we are conducting the workshop here following which they will stage the play before the urban crowd in the state capital. It will be a boost for their morale and they find a stage for their talents," Mohanty said.

Suman Khillo, a tribal girl from the adult group, said: "I could only speak in the local dialect of Koraput but, at the workshop, all of us learnt to speak in Odia. This will be really helpful for us."

The diploma engineer also said: "This is the first time that I am taking part in a theatre production. I have always been interested in acting."