Plays on rape, drugs, corruption to be staged at annual festival in Guwahati

Guwahati, Sep 11 (PTI) A rape victim’s journey to justice, drugs menace among youth and corruption over providing drinking water to people – plays on a diverse range of topics will be staged at the annual Brajanath Sharma Memorial Inter-State Drama Festival, which will get underway on Thursday.

Into its 15th edition, the four-day festival organised by amateur theatre group Samahar Natya Gosthee will see performances of four plays, including the maiden show of renowned playwright-actor Sitanath Lahkar’s latest play ‘Nyay’.

“It is indeed a very happy moment for us to formally announce the programme of the festival. During its 14 years of existence, this festival has become a landmark cultural event of the state. Now, it is a big responsibility on our shoulders to make it a grand success like the previous years,” president of the Drama Festival committee Lalit Sarma said.

The Festival has been organised since 2007 in memory of Brajanath Sharma, hailed as the ‘father of Assamese Moving (mobile) Theatre’.

He was also the pioneer of modern Assamese theatre and had first brought women on stage to introduce co-acting in the state in 1933.

Sarma said Lahkar’s new play ‘Nyay’ on the issues of lynching and rape will be staged on the final day of the Festival.

“It highlights the ordeal faced by a rape victim and how she copes with the stigma attached to it. The struggle to get justice is not an easy path, which is portrayed in the play,” he said.

Lahkar’s two other plays, ‘PIL-99’ and ‘Drohi’, will also be staged at the Festival, Sarma said.

‘PIL-99’ mainly highlights rampant corruption, even in the name of drinking water, and presents how the verdict of the people’s legal battle is stalled by the powers that be.

‘Drohi’ is based on the COVID-19 pandemic period and exposes how a section of society tries to capitalise on human catastrophe by means of superstitions.

Another well-known theatre personality Tarun Talukdar’s play ‘Imaan Dhuniya Prithibikhon’ will also be performed. It revolves around two youths addicted to drugs and shows the dangerous impact of such a menace on society and the possible way forward to get rid of it.

“We hope the Festival, like yesteryears, will be a success this year too and help create an atmosphere of alternate theatre movement in Assam,” Sarma said. PTI SSG SSG NN