Guwahati, Jan 6: Theatre in the Northeast has been able to keep itself free from the influence of films, observed theatre personality Rajeev Raj Srivastava while addressing the 36th Inter-University North East Zone Youth Festival – ‘Yuva Pratibha’ – at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on Friday.
Srivastava is here as one of the jury members of the 20-member judges of the youth festival
The five-day-event is being organised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) New Delhi and hosted by USTM from January 4.
“My perception of theatre performance in the Northeast region was quite different from what I have seen here today. I was stunned to see such beautiful performances. While in the other zones such as the North or the Central zone, theatre is very much influenced by films. But the most interesting aspect I have noticed here is that, fortunately, the theatre here has been able to free itself from this film influence,” Srivastava, the deputy director of Doordarshan Kendra (Delhi), said.
Expressing his views, Manish Jangra, another senior theatre personality and deputy director, Youth Welfare, Chandigarh University, Mohali lauded USTM for hosting the youth festival in a very organised manner.
“The plays performed were based on socially relevant issues, reflecting the thinking of the youth,” he said.
“I am sure all the best-performing youth of the Northeast will be able to show their magic in the upcoming national-level competitions of the youth festival,” Jangra, a jury member at the event, added.
A panel of 20 esteemed and expert jury members from across the country is at the event to judge the various cultural and literary competitions.
Competitions at the event on Friday included one-act play, classical instrument solo (non-percussion), classical vocal solo, light vocal Indian, group song (Indian), collage making, spot photography, clay modelling and debate.
The competitions scheduled for tomorrow are folk orchestra, cartooning, Rangoli, installation, quiz, mime and mimicry.