The play ‘Sons of Mother Earth’ warns viewers of the evils of human greed
BHUBANESWAR: On the second day of the 8th Ajit Natya Mahotsav at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar, Tuesday the play ‘Sons of Mother Earth’ was staged.
Eminent theatre personality Dhirendranath Mallick and secretary of Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy Bijay Kumar Jena graced the occasion.
The play is directed by Sukracharjya Rabha. To escape the atrocities of the King, Mother Earth takes the form of a cow and flees into deep woods. To bring an end to the butchery of Vena, the Rishis kill him and extract Nishad and Prithu after churning the King’s corpse. The Rishis believe that dark-complexioned Nishad is the product of the vices in Vena while the fair Prithu is the inheritor of Vena’s virtues.
This discriminatory approach starts privileging Prithu over Nishad in share of things. As the play progresses it shows how the excess of greed for power and wealth reaches to such an extent from where Prithu is unable to return.
Performed by Badungduppa group of Assam, the plays conveys the message of the contemporary environmental crisis because of human greed.