6-day theatre festival opens in Patna

PATNA: The fifth Shashi Bhushan memorial theatre festival opened at the Kalidas Rangalaya on Tuesday. The six-day fest is in the memory of National School of Drama student from the city, Shashi Bhushan Verma, who died under mysterious circumstances in Delhi a few years ago. Noted Hindi dramatist and poet Rajesh Joshi was felicitated on the occasion with the fourth Shashi Bhushan memorial honour for playwriting.
The Rang Vidushak troupe from Bhopal presented ‘Tukke-Pe-Tukka’, the play written by Rajesh Joshi and directed by Bansi Kaul. With clown costumes and heavily painted faces, the actors created an aura of amusement. The story revolves around Tukke, a rich boy who has never had any schooling. However, he gets the title of ‘Nawab’ by fate. The satire provided the audience full dose of fun, alongside some social message, and Kaul did not disappoint.
A brightly coloured stage, clownish costume and painted faces of the performers are the USP of the troupe. In the opening ceremony of the fest, noted dramatist of the state Hrishikesh Sulabh, Assamese director Dulal Roy, state art, culture and youth affairs secretary Chanchal Kumar and Patna divisional commissioner Narmadeshwar Lal were also present. The fest has been organized by a theatre group of the city, ‘Raaga’.
On the second day, Vijay Kumar directed ‘Sakharaam Binder’ will be staged by the ‘Manch’, a troupe from Mumbai. Also, ‘Ji Hame Toh Natak Karna Hai’ by a troupe from Delhi will be staged on November 6 and ‘Hum Bihar Mein Chunav Lad Rahey Hain’ as well as ‘The White Hands’ by Manch on the next day. On the last three days of the fest, theatre buffs can enjoy ‘Zindagi Madhur Hai Kumansenu Mein’, ‘Natmethiya’ and ‘Dastangoi’, respectively.
Shashi Bhushan had been on the theatre circuit for the more than 18 years. He was selected for the NSD in 2009, the year he died.