‘Pukaar’, ‘Koshish’ staged to full house

A packed house witnessed ‘Koshish’, a play by Manorang Theatre Group, Mumbai, during the weeklong Pritam Singh Oberoi Memorial National Theatre Festival at Kalidasa Auditorium, Virsa Vihar Kendra, Patiala.

“The play gives us a peep into the struggles of our middle-class protagonist who is walking on thin ice and trying to balance family and career. He is in search of the ever-elusive happiness and is willing to try anything to deal with his social, professional and cultural challenges,” said director and writer of the play, Sandeep More. “Will his efforts pay off? Or will his absurd ideas backfire? Or will we all discover a simple solution to life’s testing moments. The play revolves around this,” he said.

This comical drama that contrasted North and South Indian family dynamics struck the right chord with the audiences of all age groups and left them in smiles. On Monday, artistes of Aakanksha Sansthan, Jodhpur, staged a play ‘Pukkar’ on the fifth Day of the National Theatre Festival. The play was directed by Vikas Kapoor and written by Nibedita Jena.

The play put up by the theatre artistes from Jodhpur at Kalidasa auditorium touched a raw nerve amongst the audience as it raised the issue of the continued harassment of rape victims. The central character, played by Neetu Parihar, is a researcher who is investigating the suicide of a rape victim who chose to commit suicide after 12 years of abuse.

According to director Vikas Kapoor, the narrative of the play reveals that the rape victim struggled to bring her perpetrators to justice, but couldn’t shrug off the stigma that ominously hung over her family even after 12 long years.

The researcher learns about this when she contacts the spirit of the victim through ghost calling. In this chilling encounter, the ghost states that she had grown pained and disheartened by the unjust social taboos and she chose to take her own life.

The power-packed play highlights the travails of the rape victims and exposes how our society has shamelessly turned its back on their plight.