Nandanik’s 3 day theatre carnival at Koraput concludes among heavy audience participation

Koraput: The 3 day theatre carnival at Koraput by Nandanik concluded with the audience enjoying a series of programmes including lecture, seminar and drama performances by teams from Bhubaneswar, New Delhi and Kolkata apart from Koraput.
On 1st August, Nandanik organized the Foundation Day Lecture at COATS Seminar Hall, Koraput. Dr Manmatha Kr Satapathy, ex secretary, Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi delivered a talk on Folk Culture of Odisha. The session was presided over by Shri K C Nisanka, eminent researcher. The session was inaugarated by Shri A K Sethy, District Culture Officer, Koraput. The Asim Basu Memorial Award was handed over to Shri Dambarudhar Nayak by Bhaswati Basu.
On 2nd August, a national level seminar on ‘Folk Culture and Media’ was organized by Nandanik in joint collaboration with Kolkata based academic journal Parbo. Acdemicians and art practitioners presented papers in the seminar convened jointly by Dr Jhansi Singh and Saumendra Kr Swain.
On 2nd August, the 4th edition of the Deomali Theatre Festival was started at Town Hall, Koraput with inauguration by Shri R S Das, Exective Director, NALCO, Damanjodi, Shri Jugal Kishore Panda, AIR, Jeypore, Shri Krishna Singh, eminent social worker Shri Niloy Roy and Shri Probir Guha, eminent theatre directors from New Delhi and Kolkata. All the guests congratulated Nandanik on reaching 5 years and spearheading the theatre movement in Koraput. Shri R S Das said, “We appreciate the efforts of Nandanik and will stand by the efforts of Nandanik to promote theatre in Koraput district.” Shri J K Panda described the significance of theatre as an art form.
Nandanik presented the play Nayeeka based on the plays of Ramakanta Rath. It was scripted and directed by Sourav Gupta. The play deals with the unconditional passion of a person for an actress and advocates that true love is unconditional. The next performance Kala Jal by Delhi based People’s Theatre Group was a strong non verbal statement regarding water pollution.
On 3rd August, the Alumina Girls School, Damanjodi presented a play, Swabhiman, on Rights of Girl Child. It was supported by NALCO, designed by Ashok Kar and directed by Susanta Kar. Alternative Living Theatre presented Ghar wapsi ki geet under the direction of SNA awardee Shri Probir Guha. The play in living theatre signature style of Guha was highly physical and musical in form and emphasized the important issue of curses of industrialization and uprooting of people from their homeland.
Nayika Natyachetana presented a modern adaptation of Fakir Mohan’s Rebati by Subodh Patnaik titled Rebati Eibati Sebati. The solo performance by Sujata Priyambada was liked by everyone. The play centres around women’s education in present social context.
Inspite of the heavy rainfall, there was a heavy turnout in the festival.