Lalit Gupta
JAMMU, Mar 15: Organized jointly by J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL) and North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, the eight-day Dogri Theatre festival which started at the Abhinav Theater, here today, has been hailed as a much needed initiative to promote theater in the native languages of the State.
Acclaimed Dogri poet and playwright Mohan Singh’s play ‘Panch Prapanch’, staged on the opening day, came out as a clarion call to the gullible masses to see through the evil designs of the so-called political and social elites whose slogans of the removal of poverty and social equality etc. are nothing but a smoke screen with the sole aim of self-promotion and preservation.
The play, though heavy on text and despite being preachy in tone, is surely a welcome attempt by a Dogri playwright to comment on the contemporary socio-political scenario where a dangerous combination of money, muscle and political powers is calling the shots and corruption be it moral or financial have become a matter of routine. The play ends with a plea for realization of the devaluation of human values and a concerted social action to make the perpetrators accountable.
The cast comprising of Janak Khajuria, Mohan Singh, Sushma Rani and Natyapal Singh as four characters, gave a good performance. But the play’s design needed a little tightening up. Especially the exists and entries required more synchronization with light fade-in and fade outs.
Prominent among the audience were Saurabh Vardhan, Director NZCC, Aziz Hajani, Secretary JKAACL, Arvinder Singh Amn, Additional Secretary and Darshan Darshi, Convener, Sahitya Akademi Advisory Board for Dogri.
Tomorrow, Rajeshewar Singh Raju’s Dogri play Apne Uppar Bhari will be staged by Rangshala Theatrte Group.
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