First national N-E theatre fest gets huge response

To bridge the cultural gap between the North-Eastern states and promote the enriching theater culture, first National North-East Theater Festival is being organized in the State Capital from May 26.

“Five out of 200 plays have been selected to be performed in this five day Theater Festival. Under this Cultural Exchange Program, 125 talented artists of North-East Theater Academies of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur are performing.” said Sanjay Lal, North-East Theater Festival Coordinator.

Department of Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Jharkhand, in collaboration with National School of Drama, New Delhi is organizing the five day North-East Theater Festival from May 26 to May 30 at Aryabhatt Auditorium, Morabadi, Ranchi.

Five exceptional plays conveying different social messages are being performed by the artists of North-East for the people of Jharkhand. “National North-East Theater Festival will help the people of Jharkhand to understand the art and theater culture of North-East.” said Sanjay Lal.  

On the third day of this Theater Festival, an inspirational play on women empowerment, Pokhila (The Butterfly), was performed by the artists of Anubhav, The Actor’s Guilt, Assam. The play depicted the struggles of a teenage girl who is molested by a drunkard. It was a female centric play which revolves around a 13 year old girl, Tagor.

The event was marked by the presence of Gopal Singh, CMD, Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), Ranchi. Gopal Singh recalled his acting days as a theater artist and said, “Theater Festival is a great initiative to promote the dying theater culture.” Jyoti Narayan Nath, Director of Pokhila said, “Theater is the best medium to covey a social message to the audience. It is my first show in Jharkhand and I am excited to see the response of the audience.” Jyoti Nath is a graduate from National School of Drama and has been working with Anubhav, The Actor’s Guilt for 16 years.

Dr. R.K.Singh, Registrar of Sarla Birla Public School and organizer of Theater Festival said, “National Theater Festival is an initiative by National School of Drama, the State Government and Sarla Birla Public School, Ranchi to revive the theater culture and give opportunity to the prospective youth talents of North-East.”

On Tuesday, the artists of Liberty Theater, Manipur performed a play Laampi, directed by Uttamkumar Naorem. Naorem said, “It is a female centric play which revolves around a girl, Laampi. The play questions the superstitious beliefs of the society and depicts the struggles of a girl, Laampi who becomes a victim of caste norms.”

The following plays will be performed in the five day Theater Festival, Bubbles in the River, directed by Sahidul Haq, Lokthel, directed by Laishram Randhoni Devi, Pokhila (The Butterfly), directed by Jyoti Narayan Nath, Laampi, directed by Uttamkumar Naorem and Jina & Etiben directed by Bendang Walling.