Patna: Three-day long ‘Rang Ullas 2020’, hosted by Image Art Society at Kalidas Rangalay here in Bihar, presented three plays of different tastes to the theatre connoisseurs who had been pining for good plays since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The inaugural play of the festival was ‘Aughad’, staged by theatre group Imagination on November 5.
Written by Nilotpal Mrinal, ‘Aughad’ brilliantly describes various aspects of villages largely influenced by social and political happenings. The play revolves around Biranchi Kumar alias Biranchia, a youth of Makhanpur. Despite being a graduate, he loves hanging out with delinquents. Then comes panchayat election and the plot starts from here to thicken. As the play proceeds towards its end, it leaves the audience searching for answers to several questions.
Theatre lovers were seen glued to their seats till the last scene.
The play, an adaptation of the novel by Ahart Kumar, was conceived and directed by Kundan Kumar. All the artistes did justice to their characters. Roshan Kumar, Abhishek Raj Dramebaj and Vijay Kumar need special mention for their up to the mark jobs in the fields of light design, music and stage design respectively.
The second evening witnessed Prayas Rangamandal staging the play ‘Dasharath Manjhi’, the story of the Mountain Man.
The play opens to a village named Gehlaur in Bihar. Here lives Dasharath Manjhi, who earns his livelihood by working as a labourer.
There is a mountain and like many, Manjhi too treks the treacherous mountain to reach the other side of it to till land for his employer. At noon, Falguni Devi, his wife, brings him food and water.
One day, she is climbing up the mountain with a water pot on her head balancing with one hand and carrying the food wrapped in a piece of cloth in the other hand. While trekking, she loses her balance and falls off the mountain. She suffers severe injuries.
Yet, she reaches where Manjhi is working. Seeing her injured and bleeding, “What happened?” Manjhi asks her. And she narrates the incident.
Later, she falls sick. To reach the hospital at the other side of the mountain, all the villagers had to take an indirect route which is time consuming. It is when Manjhi is taking her to the hospital that she succumbs. The death of his wife makes him determined to carve a path through the mountain. He picks up a hammer and a chisel, and the rest is history.
Uday Kumar Shankar’s choice for the eponymous character was a perfect one. He portraying the character of’Mountain Man’an’ left nothing to be desired. And all the other artistes were equally good. Their powerful performances left the audience hooked to their seats all through the play.
While the play was directed by Mithlesh Singh, Padmashree Prof. Shyam Sharma’s stage craft, Rajeev Roy’s brilliant light design and Sanjay Upadhyay’s music largely contributed to the success of the play.
Prayas Rangamandal, established in the year 1984 and presently regarded as one of the best theatre groups in the state.
How the outbreak of COVID-19 affected every sector and how it changed our normal routine life found mention in the play ‘Ghare Ghar Jail’, staged by Abhinay Arts on the third and concluding evening of the theatre festival.
With this play, noted director Manikant Chaudhary has emerged as a playwright.
Manikant says he has written the play during the COVID-19 time and what needs mention is not its minimal characters but also minimal properties. Manikant was brilliant for using only four characters he successfully narrates all the aspects of the pandemic time.
Rahul Kumar’s light design and Amlesh Anand’s music play significant roles in making the play an enjoyable one.
Image Art Society, in association with Ministry of Culture, Government of India, organised the first edition of ‘Rang Ullas 2020′. The festival was held in adherence to all the COVID guidelines.
Established by Shubhro Bhattacharya in the year 2012, Image Art Society has established itself as one of the prominent theatres. So far, it has staged many plays and street plays, earning laurels from theatre lovers. Besides, it has been organising theatre workshops on several occasions.
‘Triloki Nath Zindabad’, ‘Pahala Raja’, ‘Hey Hari’, ‘Deewar Ka Waapsi’ and ‘Desi Murgi Vilayati Chaal’ are some of its successful plays.
By kalasanskruti
