A play depicting the old age travails of women, Hastinapur, was staged here on Friday at Antarang Hall, Bharat Bhavan.
The play was staged to mark the concluding day of the four-day theatre festival organised by Trikarshi Group, Bhopal. Directed by KG Trivedi this was the adaptation of the story written by a Hindi novelist Nandkishore Acharya.
Performed by the artistes of Trikarshi Group, the play was all about the unfulfilled dreams, wishes of a woman. It also focuses on the struggle faced by a woman in her life in terms of making decisions, in terms of facing the society and in terms of having confusion whether to listen to heart or to her mind. It also showcased that how the women were used by men for their selfish reasons.
Depicting four characters, Satyavati, Subha, Ambika and Kunti the play also wonderfully describes that how the society ruins a woman’s identity just to prove its power and supremacy. The stage craft of this play was colourful and pleasing to the eyes. It was symbolic and beautifully represented each and every character come to live as they were not there.
While talking about the play, director KG Trivedi said, “At first when I read the story Hastinapur it did not capture my attention, but then when I read it through a playwright’s point of view I found that the way it has been written it’s spontaneous.” Elaborating further, he said, “As I could feel every emotion that is expressed so well in the story so I thought that such a story is like a ‘need’ to be staged as a play and reach the masses.”
This story is beautifully spun with some interesting and dramatic elements. At first act we feel at a point that everything is alright then suddenly a next phase takes over which moreover creates another interesting act and it seems that another phase of life has taken over the situation which makes the plot of the story even more interesting to watch.
The play has almost all the dramatic elements, from language to highly decorated costumes, make-up and stage craft that left the audience thrilled. With the sensible use of lighting and the acting skills the audience watched the play with rapt attention.