What happens when today’s Radha waits for her Krishna to return to herIJ This emotion of a woman was showcased through a Hindi play Kanupriya here on Friday at Shaheed Bhavan Auditorium.
It was a part of a five-day theatre fest Navagat Theatre Fest that began here from Thursday at Shaheed Bhavan Auditorium. Organised by Madhya Pradesh School of Drama, the fest will showcase the productions of 10 interns of MPSD.
Here on Friday, Kanupriya was staged. Directed by Vasudha Kumari from Bihar the play is an adaptation of the Hindi poem by Dharamvir Bharati.
It is a collection of poems, its lyrical quality, the underlying philosophy and the sheer beauty of the language. Kanupriya is a classic. It was written by Dharamvir Bharati expressing the unending love of Radha and Krishna. One can feel the intensity of love of Radha for Krishna. Nothing matters to this love, be it was the mighty and important war and urgencies of upheavals. For Radha nothing really matters and everything translates into her love for Krishna.
But, interestingly, Vasudha Kumari has beautifully illustrated the love of today’s woman. Where Dharamvir Bharati expressed the waiting of Radha in his words, Vasudha transformed it into agony and pain of a woman.
The play begins in a poetic form where the artists narrated the story in a lyrical manner. The characters of Radha and Krishna come up on the stage dancing and giggling with each other. This portion of the play showcased the Raas leela of Radha and Krishna. But then Krishna had to leave for the war and asked Radha to wait for him. Radha waits for him eagerly. As the time passes she sees his peacock feather and anga vastra.
Years passed by but Krishna does not return. Devastated Radha at the end throws his belongings in a river saying that my wait ends here and I will move on with my life.
Director Vasudha Kumari said, “My friend asked me to read this poem and bring out something new. So I thought will today’s woman have the same dedication as RadhaIJ I ended up with this conclusion.”
The play with the lyrical theme was worthwhile watching.
later another play, Sanvad Ehsaas aur Sach was staged. The play was directed by Yogesh Kumar Pandey from Shahjanpur.