Regional hues of theatre

This year the 18th Bharat Rang Mahotsav saw various plays being staged by regional directors and they enthralled the audiences who got to see various facets of theatre under one roof. Another set of plays were staged on Friday in the national Capital.

Toba Tek Singh is a play written by the great writer Saadat Hasan Manto and directed by Md. Imteyazul Haque, which narrates the story of a man named Toba Tek Singh who died fighting when after partition, the Indian and Pakistan government decided to exchange lunatic asylum inmates. The play was performed by Social and Culture Welfare Organisation group from Begusarai. Another play, titled Nowkar Shoytaan Malik Hoyraan, is an adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s hilarious Commedia dell’arte comedy-The Servant of Two Masters, which has been directed by Ashim Das. Identities were mistaken, engagements were broken, and lovers  were reunited in this piece. The play was performed by Fame School of Dance, Drama & Music from Bangladesh. The third play-Azad Maulana is a portrayal of one of India’s greatest freedom fighters, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Directed by Tripurari Sharma and written by Suryakanthi Tripathi, the play begins with the famous speech that the Maulana delivered in Ramgarh in 1940 when he was elected the President of the Indian National Congress. 

Pethannasami Thalattu is another play is a performance text molded to juxtapose Duryodhana, a key character in the Mahabharata, with Peer Gynt. It depicts how the ego fuses with love and affection of motherhood. The play has been written and directed by Prof.S.Ramanujam and performed by Prof S Ramanujam Memorial Association, Thanjavur. The fifth play staged was-Akhiyaan. It narrates the story of a blind village girl who desires the sense of sight. She hopes it would let her see herself and also let her shed tears for her sorrow. The story has been written by Rafi Peer and directed by Malik Aslam. The play was performed by Azad Theatre, Pakistan.