Theatre festival holds mirror to society

Superlative performances, tight scripts, interesting props and the right mix of theatrics that had the audiences asking for more, marked the three-day long ‘Rangotsav’, (November 27-29), an event dedicated to promoting theatre in the City. Organised by Rangbhoomi, at Delhi’s Shri Ram Centre the festival opened with the play ‘Samrat Ashok’.

Written and directed by Daya Prakash Sinha, Samrat Ashok revolves around a person by the same name, who suffers from an inferiority complex about his extremely ugly looks. Being staged for the first time, the play was marked by excellent performances, fantastic dialogues and drama that found instant approval from theatre lovers. The depiction of the internal conflict, Ashok’s dark self-obsession that makes him excessively cruel made Day 1 a roaring success.

The second day opened with Kissa Maujpur Ka,  which brought on stage the fate of the girl child born in India. The play strenuously underscored the hypocrisy and dual mindset of the make-dominated Indian society where people show themselves to be modern and do not discriminate between a girl and a boy, but, when faced with the ‘actual situation’ do not hesitate to opt for an ultrasound and abort the girl child.

Marking the finale of the festival, the most popular and loved play Hi! Handsome hit the stage for the 55th time in Delhi. The play revolves around the elderly and issues relating to them. The negligence that the old people face from the younger members in the family was addressed with sensitivity and heart-touching performances.

“People turned out in large numbers on the very first day of the festival and there could not have been a better beginning. We are happy that Samrat Ashok received a lot of appreciation from theatre lovers and guests, who made the festival way more special and engaging”, said J P Singh, secretary, Rangbhoomi.

“This year’s Rangotsav touched upon important social issues like obsession, female foeticide and loneliness among the elderly, to draw the attention of the people. At Rangbhoomi, every year we aim to bring forth issues and engage and entertain the audience with good performances by talented artistes in the theatre industry”, he said.