New Delhi, February 16, 2019:
Ambiance Performances and Street Plays
The youth forum at the 20th Bharat Rang Mahotsav today presented the following three plays:
Rage: The street-play by the theatre society of Kamla Nehru College, is a representation of how we take away a piece from every step of life to complete the puzzle of ‘Rage’. It provides insight on how rage degrades a human being on so many levels and various factors that accelerates it, like proving power, observational and releasing when our anger and acts turn into rage.
The Slowest Suicide: The street-play by Buniyaad, The Theatre Society of GBPEC, revolves around a child who struggles to initiate his future as the pressure for the society pulls his back to the estimated successful position tying his leg through a rope which further destroys all his dreams and aspirations.
Hypocrisies of Democracies: The street-play by Zahaanat, The Theatre Society of FIMT, revolves around the antagonist. It starts with the depiction of the agony and dreams of freedom fighters and how we shattered their dreams.
Aakhirkyu?The street-play by Raqs, The Theatre Society of Kalindi College, wishes to question these beliefs and the scientific reasons few Superstitions had which are now being followed blindly. The play wishes to unmask the reality of how the sincerity of the Indian population is being used by few people hugely known as ” Baba “.
Ambiance performances bring cultural charm to Bharat Rang Mahotsav and showcase a colourful landscape of our culture. These performances show the lesser-known local, traditional, and folk forms from the states to the heart of the national capital. They are performed at intervals within the NSD premises at the auditoriums before the plays begin. Today’s ambiance performances were Dandiya Dance, Bihu Dance and Thangta Dance.
Dandiya is a traditional folk dance from Rajasthan and Gujarat, which is related to the occasion of Holi.
Bihu Dance is a folk dance form from Assam, which is associated with the Bihu festival.
Thangta Dance, is a martial-arts dance form from Manipur, which is related to the war-environment of the city.
Director’s Meet
DirectorApoorvaAnagalli (Vacant Lot(Sarachi)) attended the session, along with theatre critics Mr. RavindraTripathi and Mr. Diwan Singh Bajeli.
“I wanted to do some physical theatre. Human instincts is the basic theme of the play. In addition, we deliberately put silence and used sounds rather than using a proper track, “says Ms. ApoorvaAnagalli.
Plays
KathivanoorVeeran (Theyyam): The Malayalam play by Sasikumar V, has earned an indomitable place in the memory of the local folk, both as an accomplished warrior and an excellent lover. Mandappan was the son of Chakki of Parakkayillam and Kumarachan of MeathaliIllam, in Kannur district, born with the blessings of ChuzhaliBhagavathi. While enjoying life as a carefree youth, he happened to quarrel with his father once. In rage, Kumarachan stamped on Mandappan’s bow, and broke it into two. Upset with his father, and convinced that a warrior who was bereft of his weapon was as good as dead, the boy left his house with his friends, to join his uncle.(Open Lawn, 6:00 P.M)
Arshinagar: The Bengali play byDebasish Chakraborty, speaks about love and true emotions. In this era, where love has been commoditized, this story talks about the real definition of love and the magic it can create. Chaya Kumar, son of a rich merchant has to leave his wife on the next day of his marriage for business expansion.The newly wedded bride, Lilabati, lives with her in-laws, but feels a vacuum. But the power of love brings joy in Lilabati’s life and helps her overcome the void. (Shri Ram Centre, 4:00 P.M)
To’Poidam: The Rabha play by SukracharjyaRabha is based on a Rabha folk-tale, and the literal meaning of the term is ‘the bird named Poidam’. The story revolves around a mother and her five sons. One day while collecting vegetables from her kitchen-garden the mother notices the droppings of an unknown bird. When the vegetable is cooked it turns out to be extremely delicious. After hearing about the indications of the presence of a strange bird, the four elder sons decide to hunt it, assuming its meat will be exceptionally tasty and might even make them immortal. Despite the warnings of the wise younger brother and mother, they go to hunt it. The bird, which is an evil presence, takes over their minds completely, consuming their souls and making them dance to her tune. (LTG, 5:30 P.M)
CharaharukoSammelan(Conference of the birds): The Nepali play by DeeyaMaskey follows the storyline where birds from all over the world gather together for a great conference. The nation of birds is in crisis, and urged by one of their flock, the Hoopoe, they have to chart a path to find their king Simurgh. For this they need to travel a long way towards the mountain called Kaf. During this journey, some die, some drop out, while others continue their quest of discovery, love, understanding, disappointment, destruction, unity and death. At last the survivors come into the presence of the great one, and discover that they themselves are the embodiment of the divine. (Kamani, 7:00 P.M)
Thousand and One Nights(Barbarian Nights): The English play by Ingrid Bonta ,followsScheherazade, who is the only woman to have become the wife of cruel and feared Shahriar, of her own free will and choice. The main question was ‘why is she sacrificing herself?’, ‘does she run willingly in the arms of Death?’But there is more to her than the first sight. She is no martyr nor does she want to become one. Just like the mythical Sheherazade takes the cruel tyrant on a journey of fantasy and imagination through unknown worlds in which the extremes of the human soul entwine like the lights and shadows of the Yin and Yang. The team wish to take the audience through 1001 states of mind, 1001 fantasies, 1001 mysteries, only to come to the thought that wisdom and love can conquer it all, even cruelty. (Abhimanch, 8:30 P.M)
Master Class
Eminent Indian Kathak Dancer, ShrimatiShovana Narayan, addressed the audience and shared her experience with her spectacular dance moves. She is one of the most celebrated and outstanding Kathak maestro of the present age; well-known both as a choreographer and performer.
Tomorrow’s Highlights for performances:
Here is a brief information about the plays happening tomorrow.
- Kala DhabbaBadal Ki Tarah aa Raha Hai
Playwright: Bhuvneshvar Prasad
Director and Dramaturge: Avijit Solanki
Group: N.S.D. Diploma Production, New Delhi
Language: Hindustani
Duration: 1 hr
- The Department
Playwright and Director: BuddhikaDamayantha
Group: Red Wings Theatre Group, Sri Lanka
Language: English / Sri Lankan
Duration: 1 hr 30 mins
- Jakshapuri(RaktKarbi)
Playwright: Rabindranath Tagore
Director: Pradip Bhattacharya
Group: Berhampore Repertory Theatre, Murshidabad
Language: Bengali
Duration: 1 hr 30 mins
- Stay Yet A While
Playwright and Director: M. K. Raina
Group: Peoples Television, NOIDA
Language: English
Duration: 2 hrs
- Maze
Playwright and Director: D. Sunil Kumar
Group: Department of Theatre, SreeSankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala
Language: Malayalam
Duration: 1 hr 16 mins
Living Legend
Renowned theatre personality, Dr. Neelam Man Singh, will address the theatre audience at 2 P.M, Bahumukh, NSD. The Chandigarh-based theatre artist is also a recipient of the 2011 Padma Shri Award and SangeetNatakAkademi Award. Her well-known plays include Kitchen Katha, The Suit and Lorca’s Yerma.
Director’s Meet
(Venue: Yoga Hall; National School of Drama, Time: 11 am to 1 pm)
Name of the directors attended the session:
- Group Leader: Mr. Sasikumar V (KathivanoorVeeran (Theyyam) )
- Director: Mr. Debasish Chakra (Arshinagar)
- Director: Mr. SukracharjyaRabha (To’Poidam)
- Director: Mr. DeeyaMaskey (CharaharukoSammelan(Conference of the birds)
- Director: Mr. Ingrid Bonta (Thousand and One Nights(Barbarian Nights))
Corporate Comm India(CCI NewsWire)
