Lalit Gupta
JAMMU, Jan 16: Coming as a New Year gift for the theatre aficionados of the winter capital, the six-day Theatre Carnival, opened with Kewal Dhaliwal’s Punjabi play ‘Dushman’ at the Abhinav Theatre, here today.
Organized by Jammu-based theatre group Natraj Natya Kunj, the 2nd Theatre carnival has been supported by the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture, and Languages, Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy, and Haryana Kala Parishad, Chandigarh.
Based broadly on the critically acclaimed Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s drama ‘The Enemy of the People, today’s presentation came out as a scathing satire on the present-day socio-political system mired with self-interest and greed of the so-called people’s representatives.
The plot of the play revolves around an honest doctor, who alarmed by the pollution in his town’s groundwater supply starts a public campaign. His brother, the Mayor of the town, sensing a threat to his business interests mounts a battle of truth versus deception and succeeds in tarnishing the image of the good Doctor. The situation in the play symbolized the current times where whistle-blowers and environmental activists have to face the wrath of the system and popular mandate.
The protagonist ‘The doctor’ instead of feeling defeated, announces himself as the strongest man in the town. His moving monologue, wherein he exposes the reality of a morally and socially corrupt system came as the climax of the play as he gives a clarion call to the audience to not turn into silent spectators or a mute majority.
Today’s dialogue-heavy play succeeded in sensitizing the audience regarding the growing pollution of our natural resources. Enacted in the background of an artistically designed set, with its self-speaking flaxes of smoke spewing chimneys of factories, and white circular pillars as devices to highlight the dramatic action in the enclosing space, today’s performance was also marked with thoughtful use of spotlights to draw focus upon actors and their groupings.
Tomorrow, Ras Kala Manch, Haryana, will present Ranjit Kapur’s play ‘Chekhov ki Duniya’ under the direction of Ravi Mohan.
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