Regional Drama Fest kicks off at SNA

Three-day Regional Drama Festival began at UP Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) with play ‘Rashmirathi’. It was staged by Sanskratik Sangam theatre group of Deoria’s Salempur at Sant Gadgeji Maharaj Auditorium, and was directed by Manvendra Kumar Tripathi.

It was based on a poem of the same name that was written by Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’. The drama adapted by Anil Mehrotra. Theatre artist Lalit Singh Pokhariya was the chief guest on the occasion.

The play discovered the idea that a man should not be judged by his lineage but his conduct and good deeds. It began with the birth of Karna and despite being the son of Surya, he is thrown into a river by his mother Kunti immediately after birth. The tale continued with Karna being raised by charioteer couple Adhirath and Radha and trained by Parshuram as Dronacharya puts down the idea of training him since he is not a prince. For the same reason, he is not able to contest for Drapuadi’s swayamvar.

The characters of Karna, Krishna, Prashuram and Kunti were played by Manvendra Tripathi, Raj Maurya, Ravindra Rangdhar and Akansha Victory respectively. Play ‘Akhari Vasant’ and ‘Bhuvneshwar – Dar Bhuvneshwar’ will be staged on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The entry to the festival is free and plays will begin 6:30 pm.