Bhubaneswar: Theatre aficionados and common audience as well experienced a barrage of emotions at the auditorium of Satabdira Kalakar’s Biju Natya Kendra in Bhubaneswar where a play titled ‘Gotie Kahani’ (A Story) was staged on the concluding evening of 6th Theatre Festival organised by Panchadhwani Natya Parishad, a Bhubaneswar based theatre organisation, on December 28.
Dipti Ranjan Dash evocatively adapted Bimal Kumar Mishra’s story for stage. Dash’s direction was impeccable.
A narrator takes the theatre connoisseurs into the play which opens in the drawing room of Gyana, a drama teacher at a private school, where his wife Chhaya waits for her husband’s return.
On his way home, Gyana meets with an accident, suffers spinal cord injury, rendering him impotent.
From here onwards, the play gives an engrossing viewing experience.
Honouring a woman’s desire to attain motherhood, Gyana prepares all the required documents for divorce and requests his intimate friend Jayant to marry Chhaya so that she can be a mother. But Jayant turns down the proposal.
With no option left, Gyana asks Chhaya to remarry one of her choice and live her life to the fullest.
The reaction and decission of Chhaya leaves him dumbfounded.
Chhaya, resting her head in Gyana’s lap, tells him that he is her life and for motherhood she can’t stoop so low as to desert him.
Each and every scene was so arresting that audience sat through this one hour-and- twenty minutes-long play and didn’t get any time to doze off in their seats.
As it has become a new normal to restrict the characters as less as possible, thanks to the prevailing Covid-19 situation, Dipti made do with only three characters and he was brilliant at that.
Archita Dash did justice to her character Chhaya. She didn’t allow herself even for a minute to overshadow her Chhaya.
She did credit to Dipti, who is her father in real life. She has already proved her talent in many plays. At Panchapatamali Theatre Festival at Damanjodi, She was felicitated with best child artiste award.
Sunil Kumar Nayak did not let down his director and performed his character Gyana to the hilt. So was Tapas Kumar Bahinipati in Jayant’s character.
Not to mention, music by Shaktiprasad Mishra, light by Rakesh Satpathy and set by Pragyan Ranjan contributed a lot to the success of the play.
By kalasanskruti
Photo courtesy: Panchadhwani Natya Parishad
