This year, the Manama Natya Sanstha, a premier theatre institution, observes its 38th Foundation Day Drama Festival-17 from Monday at the Rabindra Mandap. The hosting institution is bringing a new play “Thunta Gachhara Chhai” that opens the five -day festival.
The play is said to be a story picked from next door. It deals with the tribulations a family head shoulders in his old days. For the first time will the audience miss Manoj Pattanayak, the president of Manama Natya Sanstha and a good actor, on stage in both acting and direction. However, Ayaskanta Swain will make a debut as theatre director through the play.
The second evening sees a production “Adha Adha”, by a Dhenkanal based theatre group Charlie Chaplin Cultural Club. It nicely depicts the ordeals of transgender. The play is conceived, written and directed by Dinesh Das.
Abhinaya Natya Sanstha of Bhubaneswar will put up a famous play written 200 years ago by Banshi Ballav Goswami. Undoubtedly the play is “Moogul Tamasha”. This is the only play in Odisha where dialogues in Parsi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali and Odia languages are found. The play that mocks the feudal system of Mogul rule is usually staged in front of a Shiva temple during Pana Sankranti in Bhadrak district. Worth mentioning Sankeet, a Bhadrak based theatre group headed by Badal Sikdar, has the reputation of staging Mogul Tamasha. The play is directed by Baikuntha Kumar Das.
The fourth play is “Akasha Jeunthi Sari Jae” by Pratidhwani, a Rourkela based group. It throws light on the mindset of some doctors who give money as first priority. Sarat Das is the director of the play.
The concluding play is “Sh” by Shred Cultural Association of Sambalpur. The play narrates Keonjhar’s true story about the friendship between human beings and a beer, and the pathos of separation.
This year Ratiranjan Samman, Chandrasekhar Nanda Samman and Gopal Chandra Pattanayak Samman are to be received by Shankar Prasad Tripathy, Dr Sandeep Mahapatra and Dr Gauranga Rout respectively. This apart, nine successful personalities will receive Manana Samman.