Encouraging theatre talents
The festival till date has provided platform to around 30 young directors from theatre who are now contributing amazing work in the field of theatre
Capital witnessed five-day long theatre festival, which aimed at providing platform to upcoming directors and promote their talents. Hosted by Sahitya Kala Parishad, Department of Art, Culture and Languages along with Government of Delhi, the 6th Yuva Natya Samaroh was held from December 22 – 25.
On first day of the festival, people were all praise for the musical play 'Babuji' which was directed by Rajesh Singh and written by VibhanshuVaibhav. The play was dedicated to the noted film and theatre personality Late BV Karanth. The story of Babuji is about the North Indian folk art of Nautanki, and how the entire lifestyle of Lallan Singh (Babuji) completely revolves around dance and music. His every emotion is linked with the music. And how he establishes himself despite being disregarded and dishonored by his own family and society forms the crux of the play.
The second day was about Late Mahasweta Devi's one of the most acclaimed stories – Rudali. It is a piece of short fiction in Bengali, which had been adapted, translated and directed by Arvind Singh. Rudali offered a powerful accusation against the socio-economic and religious establishments in India. The play was centralised around Sanchari, who was believed to be ill-fated by the society. Each member of her family including her son died, but Sanchari never mourned. Eventually, she started working as Rudali, a woman who is hired as a professional mourner. Sanchari represented that character who does not have the freedom to choose, but never breaks.
On the third day of the festival people were enthralled by a soulful play on Shatru – 'The Enemy Within'. Written by Dr Ashok Lal, the play was directed by Sunil Rawat. It was based on the Buddhist legend of Ajatshatru.
On the fourth day of the festival, people enjoyed a well-known play 'Shivaratri' written by the great poet Dr Chandrashekar Kambar. The play was based on the Sharan movement in Karnataka in the twelfth century. It talks about the most unusual phenomenon of Indian history, in which social equality was emphasised and the income earned by physical labor was considered as the best income.
On the last day, people witnessed the play 'Safed Khoon' directed by Javed Sameer, also known as Samiruddin. The play, which was Agha Hashar's adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, gloriously depicts the civilisation and the madness of its main characters. The King, who wants to retire from the duties of the monarchy, decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. He announced that he will give the biggest portion of his kingdom to that daughter who loves him the most. His eldest daughter, Mahapara, and the second daughter, successfully please their father. King's youngest daughter Zara, who has always been the king's favorite and most beloved daughter, was unable to lie to her own father. She told him that she does not have words to express her love. This made the king angry and as a result, he handed over the sub-state to his other two daughters.
The festival till date has provided a platform to around 30 young directors from theatre and drama who are now contributing amazing work in the field of theatre. Sahitya Kala Parishad believes that there may be a next Habib Tanvir in the upcoming talents in the field of direction.
