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Prithvi Theatre November Thu 12, 06:00 pm, 09:30 pm |
| NIRMAN KALA MANCH'S KAHAN GAYE MERE UGNA (Hindi) |
| 1 Hour 40 Minutes (without interval) In Kahan Gaye Mere Ugna, the life of Vidyapati, Bihar’s classical poet, is narrated through the work of contemporary poets Nagarjun, Rajkamal Chaudhri and Fanishwar Renu. Vidyapati, court poet of 5 kingdoms, was also a common man’s poet, and known as a great bhakt. So much so that Lord Shiva took form as Ugna in order to serve him. The play picks up Vidyapati’s story after Raja Shiv Singh, his close friend, disappears in battle. The poet and the queen leave for Nepal and take refuge in the jungles there. When Vidyapati comes to know that Ugna is actually Shiva, Shiva/Ugna runs away … and Vidyapati spends the rest of his life searching for him. |
| Director's Note : I have always been keen to do plays which focus on great personalities. After doing plays on Kabir, Tulsi, Bhartendu, Muktibodh, Habba Khatoon, Rahul Sankrityayan, Renu, Nirala, and Heera Dom, I wanted to do something on Vidyapati and his works. Nobody knows how Vidyapati managed to play such diverse roles as a common man’s poet and an advisor to five kings. As we go deep into his life and work, we find that he was a great modernist in his time, with great regard for the poor and women. It is my theatrical experiment to bridge the gap of 600 years, which lies between Vidyapati and us. It was a personal challenge to select a few of his songs out of the thousands of beautiful ones he has written. The playwright portrays three prominent writers Rajkamal, Nagarjun and Renu who followed Vidyapati in a different sense. Ugna is a common symbol that these poets share with Vidyapati. I felt the agony of Ugna’s separation. Nirman Kala Manch : Nirman Kala Manch was set up in 1988 by four theatre enthusiasts, Sanjay Upadhyay (then a student at NSD), Ashok Tiwari, Dhananjay Narayan, and Dr. B N Singh. The group began with a commitment to perform plays for the common man, free from the shackles of political pressure and propaganda. After several street plays and a couple of full-fledged productions, Nirman Kala Manch steadily emerged as one of the most popular voices in theatre in Patna. In 1990, they performed Bidesia, which popularised the local bhojpuri theatre of Bihar, and has now become the most celebrated of their plays. Nirman Kala Manch also regularly works with children from underprivileged backgrounds through their Safarmain programme, which aims to rescue slum children from the stifling atmosphere of crime and delinquency, and channelised their energies into theatre. In 2003, the tragic demise of Pravin, a product of the Safarmaina programme and one the brightest stars of Nirman, incited the group to launch a festival, and the ‘Rangkarmi Pravin Smruti Sammaan’ as a tribute to the talented young actor. In the years that followed, NKM has been moving from strength to strength, addressing pertinent social and political issues through plays like Harsingar and Dharti Aaba (2007). This year will mark the 21st year since the inception of the NKM. |
| Cast : |
| Vidyapati Suman Kumar Lakhima Sharda Singh Ugna/Nut Santosh Mehra Parwati/Nati Manoj Patel Nagarjun/Pradhanmantri/Gramin 1 Subro Bhattacharya Renu/Tuglak/ Gramin 2 Abhishek Sharma Rajkamal/ Padma Singh/ Gramin 2 Avijeet Chakraborty Child 1 Rajnish Child 2 Prabhakar Musicians : Harmonium Md. Johny/ Prabhakar Tabla Diwakar Pandey Naal Rajesh Ranjan Dholak Santosh Kumar Tunni Jhaal Rangnath Singh Flute Sujeet Sarangee Anil Mishra Clarinet Mohammad Noor Writer Dr Usha Kiran Khan Music/ Concept / Director Sanjay Upadhyay Lights Manish Joshi Bismil Make-up Dhananjay Narayan Sinha Sets Subro Bhattacharya Set Construction Sunil Sharma Properties Anzarul Haque/ Md. Zafar Costume Sharda Singh/ Manoj Patel Choreographer Rakhi Joshi Stage manager Pappu Thakur/ Sunil Kumar Pandey Production Controller Dhananjay Narayan Sinha/ Dr. Shailendra |