It takes much determination to stage a five-day theatre fest consisting entirely of a group’s current repertoire. The Patna-based Praveen Sanskritik Manch went a step further. It travelled to the national capital with a 35-member strong contingent to showcase five productions of five different genres at the Shri Ram Centre. Praveen Smriti Natyotsav, as the festival was titled, saw the back-to-back staging of Gunda, Kucchi Ka Kanoon, Nagardola, Gabarghichor and Rashmi Rathi. This reviewer chanced upon the first two and felt amply rewarded.
Gunda, based on a famous Hindi story by Jaishankar Prasad, retells the legend of Babu Nanhku Singh (Mrityunjay Prasad). Singh is an eighteenth-century landlord from Varanasi, who brandishes a wooden mace by a Ganga ghat chanting “Kashi Kashi Shiva Kashi” while also indulging in Dulari Bai’s (Aprajita Kumari) mehfil. When the kingdom of Kashi struggles to resist Warren Hastings’s expansionism, Singh’s valour comes in handy. Scripted by Avijeet Chakravarty and directed by Bijyendra Kumar Tank, Gunda adopts a narrative tradition rooted in musicality. Exceptional live singing and instrumentals turn Gunda into both a visual and an aural delight. Prasad flexes his muscles, while Kumari regales with her musical prowess. With his sharp glances and a typical angrez accent, Brajesh Sharma is brilliant as a British commissioner.
Who owns the womb? The woman or the society? This question forms the basis of Kucchi Ka Kanoon, which is based on a story by Shivmurti. Skilfully adapted by the Chakraborty-Tank duo, this high-voltage drama explores how the panchayat functions and how female bonding works in rural Bihar. Shaista Khan excelled in the lead role, with strong support from Prasad and Rohit Chandra.
Praveen Sanskritik Manch has announced an upcoming festival at Calcutta next December. The group has also produced Gabarghichor by Bhikhari Thakur, a playwright-director from Bihar, who started composing ‘Bidesia’ — the prototype for contemporary theatre with an indigenous flair. It can consider staging a migration drama on life in rural Bihar after thousands of labourers migrated to Bengal, leaving the womenfolk and the elderly vulnerable.
