Jai Shankar Prasad’s ‘Skandagupta’ narrating the story of King Skandagupta was staged here on Wednesday at Antarang Hall, Bharat Bhavan. Spectacularly directed by one of noted theatre directors of the city Alok Chatterjee and wonderfully presented by the students of Madhya Pradesh School of Drama batch 2014-15, the play received an overwhelming response by the theatre connoisseurs.
The play was also presented here on Tuesday and interestingly was staged after 31 years. This play is all about politics, bravery and gaining the power to rule and narrates the life span of King Skandagupta. The traces from his life were dramatically showcased by the students of MPSD on stage.
The play begins with showcasing the tug of war between two kingdoms. On one hand where the whole army is busy in fighting for the kingdom, queen Anantdevi is conspiring to make her son Purgupta the king.
On the other hand the king of Malwa dies and Bandhuverma asks for a help from Skandagupta. During the war, Bandhuverma and his brother get seriously injured. Soon, Skandagupta comes to rescue Bandhuverma’s wife Jaymala, sister Devsena, and daughter of Vanik Vijya. later, Bandhuverma expresses his wish to Skandagupta to take the charge of the throne and he accepts it.
Devsena and Skandagupta fall for each other, but due to some crucial situations they fall apart. The conspiracy by Queen Anantdevi comes to an end and sad news of Bandhuverma’s death in war is received. Soon the death news of Jaymala makes things even worse. As the play moves forward Skandagupta expresses his love for Devsena but she refuses as she wants to help the poor and over this Skandgupta pledges not to marry all his life. The play ends with the song Himadri Tring Shring.
On the second show, the students were seemingly more confident and more enthusiastic for the presentation. Moreover, their performance was near perfection on the second day of the show. It was not only an enthralling performance for the audience but also a thrilling experience for the students of MPSD.