Natyadhara stages play for theatre lovers in city

The monthly theatre festival Natyadhara staged four good plays from different parts of the state for the theatre lovers of Bhubaneswar. The festival, organised by the Odia Language , Literature and Culture Department, Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy and Odisha Natya Sangha , was held at Bhanjakala Mandap recently.

The first evening saw a play titled Abhinetri by a troupe called Dynamic Platform from Bhubaneswar. The play was originally written by Sailesh Guha Niyogi and translated by Dillishwar Maharana. Debabrata Pattnaik directed the play which he said was a realistic story that’s quite relevant to the society. The second evening saw Golden Mig Kalaparishad from Sunabeda, Koraput stage their play October 31. Written and directed by Sameer Mohapatra, the play talks about a historical event.

Kalaparishad from Dhenkanal performed play Ae Mangala Mahurira Taana on the third evening, which was written by Dillishwar Moharana and directed by Shatrughna Mati. The final evening of the four-day festival saw a Sambalpuri play, Chayeti, performed by artistes of Sur Sangam Sanskrutik Sansad, Loisingha. Written and directed by Nisar Ahammad Nisar, the play speaks about the importance of time and how we must keep pace with it. “This time we have four plays for this Natyadhara festival that’s held every month at Bhanjakala Mandap. All the plays are good and different from each other. More importantly, people got to see a Sambalpuri play also. It provides a platform to the theatre troupes from across the state. We also hold a single day Natyadhara festival at Rabindra Mandap every month,” said Prakash Moharana, vice president of Natya Sangha.

The Natyadhara at Rabindra Mandap saw a play Nai’ra Thikana presented by Swasti Jhankar from Rourkela. Written by Panchanan Patra and directed by Rajiv Pani, the play is a take on relationships and how it’s like a flowing river.