Rourkela: ‘Sampark’, a leading cultural organisation here, is going to celebrate the ‘World Theatre Day’ which is held every year March 27.
To mark the occasion, ‘Sampark’ will be hosting four outstation troupes and its members will also present a play. The festival will begin March 23 and will culminate March 27. It should be stated that ‘Sampark’ has been in the forefront for revival of theatre in this part of the state.
Bhaskar Mohapatra, president of ‘Sampark’, spoke in detail about the event. “This year the festival will be held over five days. “There will be four teams (three from outside the state and one from Bhubaneswar) participating and we will also present a play,” Mohapatra said. “Teachers from National School of Drama (NSD) will present The Zoo Story. Next day ‘Sampark’ will stage Bhababinodia Kalathakur, a play based on Jagannath culture, ‘IFTA’, one of the leading theatre groups from Kolkata will present Krishna, a play based on Mahabharat, March 25. ‘KITE’ from Mumbai will present Ek Khoya Hua Admi, March 26 and on the last day, ‘Ajit’, a leading organisation from Bhubaneswar, will present Eka,” Mohapatra added.
Some of the leading actors from the Hindi theatre industry and Odisha film fraternity will be performing during the festival, Mohapatra informed. This time the festival instead of the ‘Civic Centre’, which is under renovation, will be staged at the ‘Music Circle’, an open-air auditorium. “We are providing flight tickets and remunerations to all the outstation groups. We, however, will not be getting any government help as the model code of conduct has already been implemented,” informed Mohapatra. The official said that there will be audience participation during the event. “They will be allowed to ask questions to the director and the artistes. There will be an award for the best question of the day. Some leading writers and theatre artistes will be awarded with the ‘Sampark Samman’ on the last day of the festival,” Mohapatra said.