Winter brings with it a plethora of theatrical performances, with troupes big and small dramatising stories with a social message. That was also Khola Hawa’s purported aim in presenting Shaswata Manu at Madhyamgram. The play touched upon various socially relevant issues to construct a vigorous narrative of political intrigue. Shaswata Manu (Sumit Kumar Dey), the seemingly benevolent monarch of a fictional kingdom, is a passionate patron of the arts but, like Macbeth, is wary of challengers to his power and ruthlessly suppresses them. Pushpabawd is a beautiful, faraway place in this kingdom and is full of ‘bidrohis’ on a mission to end Shaswata Manu’s life. In cheekily similar parallels to our times, Shaswata Manu agrees to promote cultural festivals even as he accrues approbation and collects reports on plots against his life, on poets labelled ‘deshodrohis’ and even on the officials appointed to run his empire, like the honourable Arinjay (Mainak Pal), his senapati, and the wily Shyentibro (Bishwajit Dey), his minister. Unfortunately, the attempt on his life eventually arrives in the form of Joukini (Arpita Biswas), a woman who seduces his trusted bodyguard, Dridhonyas (Shuvajit Kandi) — almost like a son to the emperor — to gain access to Shaswata Manu’s private quarters.

The plot is perhaps too simplistic but the play’s strength lies in the superb performances. Sumit Kumar Dey’s rendition of the titular king — he has also penned and directed the endeavour — is statuesque, commanding the audience’s attention. Kandi’s act as the forthright, incorruptible bodyguard who does not hesitate to kill his beloved to save his master is excellent. The performances of Dey, Pal and Biswas also deserve mention.

The set design by Adrish Roy and the costumes by Shalini Ghosh lack ostentation and are eminently effective — detachable doors, solid boxes as thrones and an assortment of paintings on cloth combine to convey the atmosphere of an inexorably vicious regime hell-bent on showmanship.