By Sudeep Kumar Guru
Mathkhai Mahotsav, a multilingual national theatre festival, is being held in Balangir for the past 12 years. The festival, organised by Balangir based cultural organisation, is named after Mathkhai, a hill near Balangir, which symbolises the rich cultural heritage of the district.
The 12th edition of Mathkhai Mahotsav, held between January 20 and January 24 at the Koshal Kalamandal in Balangir, was an interesting blend of traditional and new wave theatre. This year, five full length plays were staged in the five-day festival – Duiti Surja Dagdha Phula Ku Nei (Odia), Istafa (Koshali), Eka Dhotrachi Gohsta (Marathi), Charandas Chor (Hindi) and Lampi (Manipuri).
The plays representing different parts of the country explored the finer aspects of human life and sometimes narrated the flipside of human emotions.
Duiti Surja Dagdha Phula Ku Nei by Jeevan Rekha, Bhubaneswar: Two lost souls, a boy and a girl, on their run from the vagaries of the world chanced to meet accidentally. Though they are complete strangers to each other, they find that there is one thing that is common for both of them – to escape from their problems. In the course of their talking, they enact their childhood days, their frustrated youth and all the titbits of their life. Finally they discover that running away from the problems was a futile exercise. So what to do? They have to go back.
Written by eminent playwright Bijaya Mishra and directed by Abhinna Routray, the play had just two actors-Dipanwita Das Mahapatra and Mama Samal Parida and both delivered power packed performances.
Istafa by Loo, Padampur: The play revolves around Jai Chand, a simple and good man who is used to defeats and darkness throughout his life. He faces lot of sufferings as people take advantage of his goodness. He works hard in the office, but his officer keeps on making impossible demands even after the office hours. The British officer, drunk in power, abuses and even assaults him, and the timid Jai Chand suffers silently. It is only when his wife Sarada comes to know of such humiliations and reacts sharply that Jai Chand starts to assert himself. He rushes to his boss, hands over his resignation in style and proclaims himself a free man. Though set in the British time, the play is relevant even today. It shows an intricate power game in which the weak must finds ways to live in dignity. The play successfully dramatises the theme of empowering the weak and innocents by synthesising a hundred year old classic by Munsi Premchand, thousands of year old episodes from the Panchatantra and an antique ballad of our region.
Penned by noted playwright Kesha Ranjan Pradhan, the play was narrated in a lyrical style. Jagannath Seth, an alumnus of the NSD who directed the play, did justice to the script that did not have a timeline. The play further drew attention due to the performances by the actors, especially Dayasagar Dharua who played the main protagonist Jai Chand.
Eka Dhotrachi Gohsta by Salaam Bombay Foundation, Rangamandal and Srujan Foundation, Mumbai: The play pitches the story of a group of artists who claim the artistic license to dress Lord Krishna in a green dhoti against religious fanatics for whom symbolism supersedes religious teachings of non-violence and acceptance. It is the artists’ fight for freedom of expression without which they believe art cannot exist. It is a path-breaking play that in a way also symbolises freedom of self-expression.
Written by Arun Mirjakar and directed by NSD alumnus Milind Inamdar, the play followed the style of Tamasha, a traditional form of Marathi theatre that highlights singing and dancing and is usually performed by travelling theatre groups.
Charandas Chor by Exposure, Ranchi: The play is about the life of a petty thief, Charandas. Strangely he is a thief with a difference – a man of principles, an honest thief with a strong sense of integrity and professional efficiency. He makes four vows to his guru, that he would never eat in a gold plate, never lead a procession that is in his honour, never become a king and never marry a princess, thinking all of them are far beyond him.
Later, his guru adds a fifth vow – never to tell a lie and sets him of on his life’s journey, which leads him to a kingdom, where the turn of events make him famous, and eventually he is offered the seat of political power, which he has to refuse. Later, the local princess gets enchanted by him, and proposes to marry him. This is when his refusal costs him his life. The play renegotiates the idea of humane by powerfully projecting the reversal of social hierarchy where truthfulness, honesty, integrity, moral values and even professional efficiency belong to a thief and the so called civilised people of higher strata of society are precisely devoid of these virtues. The play is written by legendary theatre personality Habib Tanvir and directed by Sanjaya Lal.
Lampi by Liberty Theatre, Kakching, Manipur: This play tells the story of Lampi, a girl who is also the main protagonist. She is victim of two forces, the inter-community conflicts and the so called blind faith that continues to linger even today. Lampi’s father was murdered while her mother was awarded capital punishment on their refusal to obey the dictate of the major community that the minority one should merge with the majority one. Prior to her mother’s death, Lampi was given birth to, thanks to the leniency of the murderers. Conforming to the traditional belief of Lobsang Khullel, Lampi is hailed as the consort of the village deity and so she is abstained from marrying a human. Consequently, she is made to guard over the village gate. In a dramatic turn of event, a revered martial arts master arrives at the village en route for research on rich cultural aspects of martial arts of Lobsang Khullel.
Since no trespasser was customarily allowed to enter the village after nightfall, Lampi stopped him at the sentry post. Both exchanged their hearts and the master even proposed her as a gesture to root out the age-old superstitious practice. But Lampi could not cross the boundary of custom. She has no option but to take her own life by hanging self.
Performed in traditional Manipuri folk style, the play is written by Budha Chiantham and directed by Uttam Kumar Naorem.
