The 17th Bharat Rang Mahotsav that started off on February 1 is in full swing. Many Indian and international plays are being performed every day. Here’s a summary of the performances on the ninth and tenth day.
The 9th day of the event opened with the play Stage Directions of O’Neill, Vol 2 at Sanmukh. Directed by Ajeet Singh Palawat, it is a follow up to the Drama Desk nominated The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill, Volume 1. Stage Directions of O’Neill, Volume 2 spans the years 1913 - 1915, and includes his plays Recklessness, Warnings, Fog, Abortion, and The Sniper.
The next play was Kurbani directed by Soumitra Chatterjee. The Bengali play unfolds at a small and significant police outpost on the Indo-Bangladesh border. The one-hour play was staged at LTG Auditorium.
The next performance was Jumleela. It is a tale of an elephant, Hathi, who dies an undue death because of the selfishness of men. A political satire, it offers a comment on the contemporary narrative of people and politics. The 1 hour 30 minute play was directed by Arjun Deo Charan and staged a Sri Ram Centre.
Staging next was Naseeruddin Shah’s direction Kambakhat Bilkul Aurat at Kamani Auditorium. It is a collection of three stories - Amar Bel, Nanhi ki Naani, Do Haath.
Mun Lean Inanna was staged next at Abhimanch. Directed by Haukur J Gunnarsson, the 1 hour 20 minute stage version of Mun lean Inanna (I am Inanna) four particular stories were staged. This stage version brings together the old lyrics from ancient Sumer in the Sami language, Sami music, Japanese-inspired movements, costumes inspired by the Middle East and textiles from indigenous people all over the world.
The 10th day of the festival opened up with Anoop Joshi’s Please Mat Jao. Staged at LTG Auditorium, the 1 hour 15 minute production is inspired by two short plays of Vijay Tendulkar Ratra and Kalokh.
The next was Kusha Puttalika by Asit Basu. Staged at Shi Ram Centre is about the fathomless complexity of the psyche, epitomised in the character of the protagonist Jai Chandra Prakash. To Kill or Not to Kill was the next performance for the day at Open Lawn, NSD. Directed by Ovlyakuli Khodjakuli, the play attempts to see a male character (Hamlet) and a female character (Medea), who had gone through the power struggle of their respective genders and were also the victims of extreme violence. The next performance was Macabre by Kamaluddin Nilu. It was staged at Kamani Auditorium. It is a tale of the desire for freedom embedded in each and every individual. It portrays the imprisonment of an individual. It also exposes and reveals the complete physical and psychological domination of an individual in the hands of an unseen and unrevealed power structure.