5-day theatre fest kicks off in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: A five-day theatre festival, organised by National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, got under way here on Thursday.
Organised as part of the month-long Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav-22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav-2022 (Azadi segment), the festival will present plays on the freedom fighters of Odisha, West Bengal and Assam. The plays to be staged here have been written and directed by eminent theatre personalities from these states.
Altogether 29 plays will be staged during the festival in six cities.While the event began in New Delhi on July 16, it will take place in Varanasi from July 26 to 30, in Amritsar from July 31 to August 4, in Bengaluru from August 5 to 8 and in Mumbai from August 9 to 13.
The festival started at the KIIT auditorium here with a play on Buxi Jagabandhu, who led the Paika rebellion in Odisha. Titled Mahasangramara Mahanayak, the play was staged by Bhubaneswar-based Satabdhira Kalakar. It has been written by Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan and directed by eminent theatre personality Dhira Mallick.
“The play was first staged in 2017. We started rehearsing it for a show in Vijaywada when we received a call from NSD that it has been chosen for the festival,” said Mallick.
On the second evening, Chifung the Artist, a theatre group from Assam, will stage Theng Fakhri, written by Pranab Kumar Barman and directed by Pari Sarania. It will be followed by a Bengali play, Aguner Parashmoni, written and directed by Sudip Gupta. Artists of Kolkata-based Dolls Theatre will stage it. On the fourth evening, the stage will be set for Assamese play Phulaguri Dhewa, written by Sarada Kanta Bordolai and directed by Dipal Bora. Actors of Abhinaswar Goshti, a theatre group from Nagaon, Assam, will present it.
“Odia play Gandhinka Odisha by Newquest Repertory, a theatre group from Sundargarh, will be staged on the last day,” said Samaresh Routray, the festival in-charge for Bhubaneswar.