A Hindi play ‘Bade Bade Pankho Wala Boodha Aadmi’ was staged under the event ‘Marquez Ki Jaddui Duniya’ here on Thursday at, Antrang Hall, Bharat Bhavan.
Adapted and Directed by a young theatre artist of the city, Avijit Solanki, the play is an adaptation of ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ by novel winner Gabriel García Márquez.The play was splendidly staged by the artists of Other Theatre Group, Bhopal.
The story of this play goes around Illa and Mundari and their village.It is one of the clearest forms of magical realism. The story goes like an old sickly man is found on the shore with enormous wings to a couple Illa and Mundari.
When the couple attempts to communicate with the old man, his incomprehensible language leads the couple to believe he is a castaway.A neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death tells the couple he is an angel. Mundari decides to lock the angel in a chicken coop overnight and then send him on a raft to his fate.
Early the next morning the local priest, comes to the home, followed by the rest of the community, to test the old man and determine whether or not he truly is an angel. Ultimately, he finds many reasons why the man cannot be an angel, such as the fact that the old man cannot understand their language, and also because he has too many mortal characteristics.
The crowd soon loses interest in the angel because another freak has risen to fame. The new attraction is a woman who disobeyed her parents when she was young, and has since been transformed into a tarantula.Though the people of the town no longer see the angel, the family had saved up enough money to build a mansion with balconies and gardens and nets.
The angel’s health declines and it seems he is on the verge of death but, he suddenly becomes healthier and grows a few new feathers and one day he leaves the house and flies away.It was a mesmerizing experiment by the artists of Other Group as they managed to keep the interest of the audience. It was a heartfelt performance overall.