Shillong was one among the cities chosen to host the 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav’s (BRM) parallel theatre festival, organised by National School of Drama (NSD) in collaboration with the Department of Art and Culture, Government of Meghalaya.
The seven-day festival which began on February 4 was concluded on Feb 10.
However, the festival, like many other performing arts held in the city, did not attract many theater enthusiasts. The government is planning to find out ways and means to attract more people to such kind of creative festivals in future.
The opening play was Jona Gabhoru, written and directed by Assam based Probin Kumar Saika.
During the festival, theatre enthusiasts were treated to an exciting mix of modern theatre that promised an indulging theatre experience, alongside authentic ‘deep remote area’ regional and international performances.
The festival showcased a range of productions comprising seven shows from critically acclaimed plays carefully curetted from across the country and around the world.
It hosted four Indian and three foreign plays. Among Indian plays, two plays were in Bengali and one each in Assamese and Hindi, whereas performances from USA and Nepal were in English and one in Russian.
The opening act, a ballad of Jona Gabhuru, enacted the tale of a young hero who goes out in quest of fortune and wins a princess. In the kingdom of Garuchar rules Jona Gabhoru, a woman who has already put nine hundred princes in prison.
She makes an announcement that whoever is successful in three tests set by her, would secure her hand in marriage but if he is unsuccessful then he would be imprisoned. Kalidhan of Kamrup hears of Jona and is tempted to marry her, but he fails. A desperate Kalidhan then calls his friend Gopichan of Nagaon and requests him to find Jona and the tale then traces Gopichan’s adventures as he sets out on the quest for Jona.
Other plays performed were Kumari and the Beast (English), Kothakar charitra Kothay Rekhechho (Bengali and English), The Trojan Women (Russian), Charandas Chor (Bengali), Conference of the Birds (English) and Dararen (Hindi).