The pain and grief of an old man was seen in a play Sandhya Naad on the fourth day of the theatre festival ‘Natya Roop 2013.’ The play was staged at Antrang Hall, Bharat Bhawan here on Thursday.
The play Sandhya Naad is an adaptation of a Hindi story with the same name, written by an eminent Hindi novelist Govind Mishra. Wonderfully performed by the artists of Dost Theatre Group, Bhopal, the play was directed by Shobha Chatterjee.
The play surrounds the story of an old couple who lived in a village. The old man is a retired school teacher and his children live in a big city. After his retirement, Dadda’s son took Dadda and his wife to the city. After few days, the old man starts feeling aloof from the family. He did not get the space he desired for in his family. He is asked to leave his wife at the age of 60, he is asked to sleep in the veranda all alone, he is asked not to interfere in the family discussions and he is not given the respect he wished for.
Though the old man is short-tempered in nature and sometimes scolds his wife using abusive language. But, the incidents that happen to him break him from inside and force him to questions about what he goes through.
The story is all about his pain and grief he goes through after retirement. The 40 minute play captivated the interest of the audiences as they were able to connect with the situations depicted in the play. Dadda’s (old man) role was played by a noted theatre artist Alok Chatterjee and Amma’s (old woman) role was staged by Shobha Chatterjee.
While talking to The Pioneer, Alok Chatterjee said, “Most often people portray the pain of women, but nobody cares for the pain and grief a man goes through. The story by Govind Mishra Sandhya Naad is all about what a retired old man feels when he did not get the respect and space he always wanted in a family.”
As the play starts, it portrays the character of Dadda as a very happy-go-lucky and humorous person, but as the play gears up the pace an essence of black comedy is observed.