24 plays lined up at Pataliputra fest

PATNA: The 28th Pataliputra Natya Mahotsava, or All India Multilingual Drama & Folk Dance Festival, which got off to a colourful start on Tuesday, has infused a fresh lease of life in the Kalidas Rangalaya which has been the hub of theatre activism the state for years.
Jointly organized by the Union culture ministry and Bihar government's art, culture and youth affairs department in collaboration with Prangan, the Mahotsava will see staging of 24 plays in a span of five days.Over 600 theatre activists from 14 states are participating in the event.
"This is for the first time that a team from Bangladesh will perform at the festival. The Mahakalay Natya Sampraday from Dhaka will present Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's play 'Shikhandi Katha' and 'Visarjan' on February 8 and 9 respectively," Prangan secretary Abhay Sinha said on Wednesday.
The festival began with the play 'The Final Justice', staged by Kilkari. Several presentations were made on the second day on Wednesday in Odia, Bangla and Hindi, and they drew large audiences.
"With focus on young directors, this festival has various themes to depict right from nature to effects of war, complexities of man-woman relationship and problems and solutions of human existence in new mode," said Sinha.
A Bangla play based on John Milton's 'Paradise Lost', 'Don't Shout, O Re Mrito', was presented by Theatre Sign from Hooghly district in West Bengal. Directed and conceptualized by Shubhojit Bandopadhaya, the play reflected on aspects of social reality. Shantanu Panda and Shobhamay's performance as 'relation' and 'ambition' was lauded.
Mamata Pandit's solo performance in 'Saat Palo Wali Nao', based on Alok Dhanwa's poem 'Bhagee Hui Ladkiyan' won appreciation. The performance was presented by 'Sutradhar' from Ajamgarh. The play depicted the tragedy of a woman who was rejected 17 times by as many eligible bachelors for marriage.
IFTA-Kolkata's play 'Shikar', which had artists like Chayan De, Devyani Dutta and Sokhna Sen, was also staged impressively. Two more plays, 'Marnoparant' and Odia play 'Pitambar Gaon', were also staged. A street play 'Kaise Hoi Re Beda Paar' was presented by artists of Indrawati Natya Samiti from Madhya Pradesh.
"Theatre lovers are having a good time in Patna these days," said Shantanu Mitra, a theatre buff.