GUWAHATI: The 15th Annual Brajanath Sharma Memorial Inter-State Drama Festival by well-known amateur theatre group Samahar Natya Gosthee will be held from September 12 -15 at the District Library Auditorium in Guwahati.
Announcing the festival’s program, Drama Festival Committee President Lalit Sarma said, “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 very important and landmark cultural event of the state. Now, it is a big responsibility on our shoulder to make it a grand success like the previous years.”
Since 2007, Samahar has been organising this annual theatre extravaganza in the memory of Brajanath Sharma — the father of Assamese Moving (mobile) Theatre.
He was the pioneer of modern Assamese theatre and had first brought women on stage to introduce co-acting in the state in 1933.
Sharma, the unique firebrand freedom fighter, had destroyed and set ablaze the British aerodrome at Bornagar, Sarbhog police station, post office, etc in the Barpeta district.
The 4-day drama festival will be inaugurated on September 12 at 6:30 PM. The festival lamp will be lit by Brajanath Sharma’s daughter Hiranbala Devi and granddaughter Neelakshi Mishra Sharma.
The festival will be inaugurated by veteran Leftist politician, intellectual and writer Hemen Das.
The souvenir of the festival ‘Kohinoor’ will be released by eminent writer and former President of Bodo Sahitya Sabha Toren Boro.
The ceremony will be followed by the play of the first night. Drasta from Guwahati will present “PIL-99”, written by eminent playwright Dr Sitanath Lahkar.
The play, directed by Indrajit Kakati, mainly highlights rampant corruption, even in the name of drinking water, and poignantly presents how the verdict of the people’s legal battle is stalled by the powers that be.
On September 13 Samahar Natya Gosthee will stage “DROHI” at 6:45, written and directed by renowned playwright and theatre personality Dr Sitanath Lahkar.
The drama is based on COVID-19 pandemic period. The play exposes how a section of society tries to capitalize on the human catastrophe by means of superstitions.
On September 14 Jagiroad Natyagosthi will perform “IMAAN DHUNIYA PRITHIBIKHON” at 6:45 pm. The play, written and directed by well-known theatre personality Tarun Talukdar, revolves around two youths addicted to drugs. It shows the dangerous impact of such a menace on our society and the possible way forward to get rid of it.
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Samahar Natya Gosthee will stage the maiden show of their latest play “NYAY” on September 15 at 4:45 pm and 7 pm.
The play, written and directed by Dr Sitanath Lahkar, is on the burning issues of lynching and rape. It highlighted the ordeal faced by a rape victim and how she copes up with the stigma attached to it. The struggle to get justice in such circumstances is not an easy path – this is the say of the drama.
