Posts filed under ‘Drama’
Matkhai festival concludes with a Koshali language play
BALANGIR: A play in Koshali language was the highlight of the concluding day of five-day national multi-lingual theatre festival ‘Matkhai Mahotsav’ at Balangir on Saturday. The festival was organized by socio-cultural organization Bhumika.
The play ‘Gara Bandha’ revolved around erstwhile royal tradition of hunting by kings. Gara Bandha was a man, who used to accompany kings and symbolized the prey during hunting.
“The play depicted the life and struggle of a Gara Bandha. It portrayed the exploitative royal tradition. Through the play we want to send a message across the society how in the past right to life was violated,” said president of the festival Chittaranjan Das.
Odia play ‘haat’, based on plight of bonded labourers, pulled huge crowd as Balangir is known for large-scale migration. Another play Gabbar Ghichor in Bhojpuri also portrayed migration woes.
A Delhi-based drama troupe performed Nachnia (dancer), based on struggle and livelihood of dancing community. “The play mirrored how the dancing communities were looked down upon by the society. They were artiste yet they never got due recognition and respect,” said Dharmendra Nanda, member of the festival.
On the closing day, BJP state president K V Singhdeo attended the festival as chief guest.
“Matkhai Mahotsav is not only offering entertainment through plays but also proving to be a tool for spreading socio-economic and socio-political awareness,” said chairman of the festival Narasingh Mishra. Matkhai is the name of a hill, situated on the outskirts of the town.
Kosli language play “Mau” aims to create record
Following report is from The Telegraph:
Sambalpur, April 10: A Sambalpuri play engrossed thousands of people gathered in Sundergarh. The playMaau was staged on Friday and Saturday evening by Navjeevan, a cultural organisation of Sundergarh.
The play depicted how tribal people became victims of the war between Maoists and the state. It illustrated how a tribal village, where people fulfilled their demands from the nature, had lost its identity due to the crisis.
In a false exchange of fire, a handicapped man loses his life and his sister has to fight to exonerate her brother from the charges labelled against him.
To absolve her brother, she agrees to surrender before the inquiry commissioner appointed by the government to investigate into the encounter. But she kills the commissioner instead, who invites her to a bungalow with lecherous intentions.
The atrocity inflicted on her turns her a Maoist but the innocent eyes of her niece Maau brings her to the mainstream.
Drama aficionados had an opportunity to watch this extraordinary play with a fascinating stage arrangement.
“I had heard about the play where 100 artistes were to act together on an 11,000-square feet stage,” said Parimal Panda, who was present in the audience.
“The story touched me. It was beyond my imagination that a play on such a big stage equipped with advanced technology is possible,” said Panda.
“Earlier, I had the opportunity to enjoy the play in a drama competition in Sambalpur. But, then the play was of one hour with just 15 artistes. But now I saw the play in its bigger form,” said Pradeep Behara, a resident of Sambalpur who had been to Sundergarh to watch the play.
“The performance by the actors was stupendous and the direction was awesome,” he added.
“The thrust of the play comes out in the scene when the protagonist realises that violence is not the solution to any problem,” said Narendra Pradhan, an artiste.
“Twenty female artists, seven child artists and 73 male artists performed on stage. There was a 30-member music team for this play which included seven songs,” said Pradeep Bhol, writer and director of the play.
The organisers of the play have applied for an entry into the Limca Book of Records.
Maroof Raza, a representative from the Limca Book of Records, said he was impressed with the act.
“With the special stage and huge number of artistes, the play has every chance to get an entry into the Limca Book of Records,” he said.
Following is another report from TOI:
BHUBANESWAR/SAMBALPUR: A play with tribal rights and naxalism as its theme is likely to enter the record books by becoming the biggest ever stage show of its kind in the world.
The play, organized by the cultural organization, Nabajiban’, is scheduled to be staged in Sundargarh, 300 km from here, on April 8. An 11,000 square foot stage, modelled on a tribal village, has been created at the Sundargarh civic centre for the play Mau’ in which 100 artistes, including 20 women and seven children will perform for two hours. There will be 50 other artistes who will provide back-stage support.
“Preparations are on for the show for the past six months. It will be the biggest event in the history of drama in the state and it aspires to create a world record,” said Pradip Bhol, president of Nabajiban. A repeat performance will be held at the same venue on April 9.
Nabjiban has been orginizing plays since 1976 as part of the Basant Mahotsav. “We have written to the Limca Book of Records to come and list it. They are coming,” said Bhol, who is also a producer of Oriya movies.
Mau, the central character of the play is a girlchild who has been betrayed and befooled both by the state and the extremists. A seven-year-old girl, Prachestita, plays the character. The language of the play will be Sambalpuri, the most popular dialect in this part of Orissa.
Bhol, who is also the writer-director of the play, said the massive scale was chosen to get maximum attention for the theme, which has affected Orissa and other Indian states badly. It carries the message that violence is no answer to any social problem. Sundargarh district, with a population of over 18 lakh, and bordering Jharkhand, is one of the largest Naxal-dominated districts in the state.
Narendra Pradhan, a lecturer in Sundargarh College, who plays the character of a schoolteacher in the play, said the broader message of the play is how innocent tribals are caught between government’s development plank and the extremists’ violent path. They, otherwise, are peace-loving and content with life.
While LED lights and Dolby digital sound will be used in the play, there will be 12 LCD screens to facilitate viewing for the expected 20,000-strong audience, Bhol said.
Kosli theatre fever grips Balangir
Following news item is from TOI:
With the winter still on, it is a wonderful season for theatre lovers to flock together and enjoy the dying art of the area as well as skills of artistes from other state. SITE secretary Srikara Mishra said since it is the harvest season, the farmers and labourers are in the mood to celebrate. It is the best time for any cultural body to offer this kind of entertainment. “Our objective is to showcase the local flavour of land through these plays to enthrall the average audience. Apart from that, we will also felicitate outstanding artistes and plays too,” said Mishra. In the seven-day long festival, 22 plays will be staged. Matkhai, which is being organized under the chairmanship of Law Commission Member Narasingha Mishra, aims at reviving the urban and rural theatre and inspiring budding talents, will stage five plays in different language. Of them, the play of Dendish theatre group of Delhi will be a great hit, said Mahotsav president Dharmendra Prasad Nanda.
On each day, eminent personalities of the state will adorn the stage by their presence, while cine artistes will also be invited to encourage the artistes. On the first day, Natya Jyoti will be taken in a procession to Matkhai hill, about 5 km from here. In another effort, the organisation has formed an expert committee comprising veteran artistes to visit at least eight colleges every day during the festival and impart and guide students about the theatre.
A theatre lover, Sashi Sekhar Panda, said two organizations are making a rare effort to revive the theatre culture in the region. “Although there were doyens of drama here in Balangir, there have been no opportunities like this. This effort will definitely help improve the theatre culture in Balangir and contribute greatly to India’s theatre potential,” said Panda.
Eleven-day Dhanu Jatra begins in Bargarh
Following is from expressbuzz.com:
BARGARH: Curtains went up for the 11-day ‘Dhanu Yatra’, considered the biggest open air theatre of Asia, in Bargarh today.
With the central theme of this festival borrowed from the ‘Krishna Leela and Mathura Vijay’, the enactment on day one begins with wedding of his sister Devaki with Basudev besides Kansa’s accession to the throne and concludes with ‘Kansa Badha’ at the hands of nephew Lord Krishna.
After the marriage, a confident Kansa moves towards the Durbar of King Ugrasen, his father and dethrones him to capture the kingdom marking the beginning of his tyrannical rule. But the joy of marriage and the pride of his accession to the throne for the demon King is short-lived.
While he moves around atop a caparisoned elephant in a procession along with the newly-wed couple, a divine voice warns Kansa of his impending death at the hands of the eighth child born to Devi and Basudev. The warning is enough for Kansa to put his sister Devaki and her husband Basudev in jail.
Interestingly, the day one saw the scene shifting from Ramji Mandir in Talipada where celestial wedding of Devaki and Basudev is solemnised, dethroning and accession to the throne besides warning by divine voice at Hatpada and imprisonment of Devaki and Basudev at the makeshift prison at Radha Krushna Temple at Hatpada.
The entire Bargarh municipal limits, spread over 5 square km, turns into a stage and every citizen plays a role.
The geographical setting of Bargarh municipal limits also conforms to Mathura, where King Kansa ruled. The river Jeera represents the Yamuna. Ambapali village across the Jeera turns into Gopapur where Krishna is brought up. The festival which is a synthesis of stage, theatre and cinema is held for seven to 11 days preceding the Pousa Purnima.
Thanks to Mr.Surendra Kumar Hota for the following pictures:
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 