The Aadi Vidrohi Theatre Festival kick-started with play ‘Shankar Raghunath Shah’ on Monday. The play was performed at Shaheed Bhavan.

The programme was held under Directorate of Swaraj Sansthan, Bhopal. Directed by KG Trivedi, the play was staged by the artists of Trikarshi Theatre Troupe, Bhopal.

The play narrates the bravery tales of King Raghunath Shah and his son Shahnkar Shah during British era. The play Shah: Shankar Raghunath was all about a particular incident happened during the time of British rule, in the year 1854, when in September 1854 both, Shankar Shah and Raghunaath Shah were assassinated by the Britishers and blown away by the cannon.

The baseline of the play presented the time of British rule in India. It illustrated the life span of Shankar Shah, the ruler of a small kingdom at Jabalpur and his son Raghunaath Shah. Both fought against the British rule and tried to captivate more and more people in their struggle. Even the children of their kingdom were a part of this fight.

The curtains were opened with the song by King Shankar Shah, with which he used to gather people and participate in his freedom struggle. Later this song was banned by the British Government. The struggle and assassination of father and son formed the rest of the story.

Notably, this was the first incident ever happened in Indian history, when father and son were assassinated at the same time. This unpleasant incident is rarely known to people.

The audiences were totally enthralled by the performance. The costumes, light and stagecraft was commendable and the acting skills of the artists made the audience to watch the play with rapt attention.