Rourkela: It was an interesting mix of absurd and reality where the two met and melted to create a visual delight called ‘The Zoo Story’’. This was the first day’s rendition of Edward Elbee’s wonderful creation by the same name to celebrate ‘World Theatre Day’, organised by ‘Sampark’, a leading theatre group of Rourkela.
The play was directed by Utpal Jha of Panchkoshi while the roles were enacted by NSD professors. It was an absolute optical pleasure of 75 minutes.
The play depicts the story of a person called, Jerry, who wants to speak because he has hardly spoken to anyone in years. Jerry wants to speak to Peter, a wellpaid executive in a publishing house. Peter as per his routine comes every Sunday to a particular park and sits on the same bench and reads. Jerry, who hangs on the edge of sanity, is a wanderer who claims to stay in a big dingy apartment, as per his own admission. The two meet and the story moves on and Jerry says his experience is absolutely absurd. And finally, the narrative takes a dramatic turn as Peter and Jerry fight for the ownership of the bench and at the end the latter is killed by the former.
The actors portrayed their roles to perfection and it was a world class performance. There was hardly anything amiss in the entire play. The music composition was also apt with the play and helped the actors in portraying their emotions. The costume designing was also very good, the audience who had gathered to watch the play opined.
Later on after the end of the play, the director participated in a question-answer session. “In the age of mobile when personal interaction time is getting reduced every minute, Jerry wants to say something and there is no one to listen. It may look absurd but it is up to the audience to interpret as per their own thought,” Jha said. The programme was inaugurated by DiC Rourkela Steel Plant, Atanu Bhowmick.
PNN