Theatre festival ends on grand note

Correspondent

Silchar, Dec 6: A theatre festival could not have a better opening than the staging of Addya Shesh Rajani, a play directed by an ace playwright, actor, director, Bratya Basu, on the very first day of the four-day theatre festival held at Banga Bhawan of this town from November 24 – November 27. The festival drew to a close on a grand note on the last two days of the festival. Some enthralling performances not only kept audiences on the edge of their seats, many of them could not be accommodated despite providing extra chairs. The staging of the four plays, Addya Shesh Rajani, Meghe Dhaka Tara, Boma and Ruddhasangeet mesmerized the audience and turned out to be a crowd puller.

 Both Boma and Ruddhasangeet featured an eminent theatre and film persolity, TV show host, Debshankar Halder and it was an instant hit. It is rare for a theatre festival at Silchar to have such audience. Overwhelmed at the number of people who came to see the dramas, organizers were at a loss regarding the provision of seats to them. The night saw a large number of people thronging in to enjoy the drama. A number of positive things have come out from the festival. The theatre hall did not remain vacant; people had to stand to see the plays.

 Bratyajon’s strong foothold on the soil of Barak Valley has opened new avenues for exploration by future theatre groups, Bhabikal being one of them. Bhabikal in its 32nd year has elevated the level to the next one. There is no looking back from them. Bratyajon, a brainchild of Bratya Basu in collaboration with Bhabikal and Aswash have pulled up a stunner festival. It was evident from the number of tickets that was sold out. It should be mentioned that a large number of people could not get the tickets owing to the gap between demand and supply.

 Despite the cash crunch owing to the demonetization of high valued currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000, people came in large number to entertain themselves through the four plays. Demonetization failed to crush people’s spirits. Bratyjon, Bhabikal and Aswash’s joint initiative to make November a cheerful and memorable one, indeed paid off. The main aim of the festival was to enrich theatre workers and audience across Silchar to watch a few drama productions from Bengal with modern theatre language. Theatre is supposed to mirror and reflect the society as it is a media of communication. The ability of theatre to engage and appeal to all the senses at the same transcends it beyond time and space. It was evident from the crowd that thronged in to some of the finest dramas from Bengal. To sum up, it can be said that both Bratya Basu and noted dramatist Santanu Paul who is director of Bhabikal theatre group had the last laugh.