Koraput: Nandanik, a theatre group based in Koraput, kick started its three-day theater event here Wednesday, marking its fourth foundation day.
On the occasion, the first Asim Basu Memorial award was presented to Soumendra Kumar Swain.
Noted theatre director Subodh Patnaik delivered his lecture titled ‘The relevance of non proscenium theatre in the present scenario.’
It may be mentioned here that the award is named after Asim Basu, the late thespian of Odisha theatre.
Creative director of Nandanik, Sourav Gupta said, “We at Nandanik believe that theatre is an academic process which demands intellectual discourse. The foundation day lecture is an opportunity to enhance our knowledge on theatre which will be beneficial to form new ideas and improve performances.”
Nandanik has planned to organise the third edition of Deomali Jatiya Natya Mahotsava, 2018 August 3 and 4. The festival will feature plays by teams from Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Kolkata and Koraput.
Arjun Samataray from Bhubaneswar will perform his solo ‘Ichcha’. Rajesh Panda with his batchmates of Drama Department of Sambalpur University will perform ‘Station’ under the banner of Natyashala.
Nandanik will premiere its new play ‘Takshaka’ by Manoj Mitra under the direction of Sourav Gupta.
The main attraction of this festival is the staging of Kushilab, a Bengali play by the 52-year-old theatre workshop from Kolkata.
The play is a solo performance by Ashok Mukhopadhyay, a veteran of Bengali theatre who has worked with legends like Sambhu Mitra, Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay and Satyajit Ray to name a few.
The Deomali Jatiya Natya Mahotsava is a multi-state multi-language theatre festival started in 2016 by Nandanik with an aim to facilitate cultural exchange between theatre of Odisha and other states.
In last two years, several plays have been staged in Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi and Urdu languages.
“We have invited young theatre directors to showcase their work and also a veteran like Ashok Mukhopadhyay so that we may learn from him. The festival will provide a platform of cultural exchange between the theatre artists of different states,” said Nandanik secretary Monideepa Gupta.
Nandanik, established in 2016, has collaborated with various government organisations like Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata and Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.