Grand opening marks workers’ drama festival

Nagpur: The 65th drama festival organized by the Nagpur division of Maharashtra Workers Welfare Board (MWWB) was inaugurated at a grand ceremony at Kamgar Kalyan Bhavan, Raje Raghuji Nagar, on Thursday. The stage is set for the primary round of the competition in which 29 worker groups from various divisions of MWWB will be contesting for the title.The competition will be judged by Rupali Kondewar, Subodh Khurjikar and Saied Akhtar, all theatre personalities.Inaugurating the competition, Maharashtra minister for public health and workers Vijay Deshmukh said that it is appreciable that MWWB not only organizes such competitions that provide a good platform but also carries out drama training camps for amateur artistes to learn and grow.South MLA Nagpur Sudhakar Kohale, Murtijapur MLA Harish Pimple, veteran theatre artiste Mukund Wasule, former minister Laxman Dhoble and welfare commissioner Satish Dabhade were present. Wasule and Pimple praised the organization for giving a platform to budding artistes and appealed to the contestants to use the opportunity well by giving their best performances. Dhoble listed the dramas that had great impact on the society and motivated everyone to take up such topics for staging plays.Dabhade said that 250-300 artistes, chiefly workers and their family members, will be participating in the festival.The inauguration was followed with the staging of play ‘Mahapatra’, written by Arvind Limaye and directed by Ramesh Lakhmapure. The story revolved around a woman who fights the society and independently leads her own life irrespective of social taboos. The story was emotional and inspiring that spread the message of women empowerment.The competition will continue till January 23. Prize distribution ceremony will be held on January 24 in which three groups will be selected for the final round who will perform at Solapur from February 5, 2018, for the title.