Dastangoi and Please Mat Jao were staged at Shaheed Bhavan marking the conclusion of Ajay Tiwari Theatre Festival here on Sunday.
The plays were staged at Shaheed Bhavan receiving an overwhelming response by the theatre buffs of the city.
Performed by Shiekh Usman, Dastangoi was much enjoyed by the audience. While talking about the Dastangoi art, Usman informed that the word Dastangoi refers to the art of storytelling, it is a compound of two Persian words Dastan and goi which means to tell a Dastan.
Dastans were epics, often oral in nature, which were recited or read aloud and in essence were like medieval romances everywhere. Telling tales of adventure, magic and warfare, Dastans mapped new worlds and horizons. The hero’s adventures could sometimes parallel the mystic quest, at other times the story narrated a purely profane tale. It was that Rumi’s Masnavi and Arabian Nights both came to contain many stories from the Panchtantra tradition.
later Please Mat Jao was performed. Directed by a renowned theatre artiste of the city Anoop Joshi, the play is adapted from two stories originally written in Marathi by Vijay Tendulkar as Ratra and Kalekh.
The play showcases two different perspectives of two different people and the destiny tests them in different ways.
The unassuming but intelligent beloved who has been deserted by a man for a rich girl, is leading a listless life. After some years the same boy after divorcing the rich girl returns to her and proposes to start afresh. But when he realizes that she is still in bad shape, he rejects her again and leaves her. After some years he lands in red light area while looking for a mechanic for his broken car. He meets a girl there who claims to be rural girl and gentle lady. She requests him to save her and provide shelter for one night. He agrees and brings her home. Soon he falls for her. But next morning the girl reveals her true identity as a prostitute and tells him that she just wanted to experience how homely life feels, rejects him and goes away.
Both the shows were much enjoyed by the audience. It was like a mass treat for the theatre buffs.