Staging issues of a common man

Telangana Theatre Research Centre in association with Manthri Srinivasa Rao Foundation organised a three-day ‘Modern Theatre Festival’ recently at Ravindra Bharati.

The three-day festival begun with the play ‘Turrebaz Khan:1857’ directed by Mohammad Ali Baig. Turrebaz Khan is an Indian revolutionary who fought against the British in Hyderabad during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He is a heroic figure in Deccan history, known for his valour and courage.

The play is a gripping drama set in a forest where he was captured before he was shot dead. The play presents the imaginary last hour he spent with captor, Qurban Ali who was a slave to the very establishment that Khan fought against. The two, although from the same soil and origin, are victims of their circumstances; the subject who revolted against the system for a cause. A part of the regime, cater to it for his own benefits.

It is a global conflict of class, oppression, discrimination, and opportunism.
Day-2 begun with the play ‘Ravanayana’ directed by Dr Vijaya Raghava Thatiparthy. In the play, there is no epic character ‘Ravana’ but the concept Ravana is constructed by ten different characters that were part of the play.

It exemplified the multiple personalities present within an individual, in general. The process of acquiring an ideological identical, but by overlooking and surprising the ‘other’ possible identities underlying oneself. It also reflects the dilemmas, confusion, and anxieties of a common man struggling between the metaphysics and realities of life chosen by him.

Followed by the play Ravanayana, another play Yatana directed by Dr Govindaraju Bharadwaja was staged. This play narrates a story of a family who migrated to another place to get bread and butter.

The final day began with staging the play ‘Black and White’. The play revolves around Black and White incidents of an individual. Most of the people in life struggle between the Black and White incidents.

At that time people din’t know what to do and are always afraid of various situations. For their unsuccessful attempts and failures in life, they blame their neighbors, society, and country. The play depicts the opportunism of humans.The three-day festival ended by staging a play ‘Manugada’ directed by Rammohan Holagundi of Nishumbita Ballet and Theatre Group.

The play revolves around human’s tussle for survival. It speaks about the space and human way of life, his failure, the final reckoning and a new beginning. It’s about the struggle of human existence that takes different forms showing the day to day situation and the hierarchy of power leading to destruction. The play culminates with a message that after every catastrophe, humans will emerge from the ashes of annihilation to start a fresh life.

The play is staged in a stylised, experimental, innovative manner with ‘Physical Theatre’ being the core. The three-day festival is a great event for young theatre lovers who want to do experiment in theatre.