Under the Sal Tree 2023 – the three-day
annual theatre festival acclaimed globally for its unique eco-friendly setting
– commenced in Assam’s picturesque Goalpara district on December 15.
A large number of troupes from Assam,
Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal participated in the
festival, initiated by eminent theatre personality Late Sukracharjya Rabha, in
Goalpara’s Rampur.
Rampur, a small hamlet off NH 37, which connects
Guwahati to Goalpara, a distance of about 150 km, no longer languishes in
anonymity.
The village is now on the to-do list of
theatre gurus who believe that the medium is not just about performance and
entertainment, but also about community engagement and empowerment.
The festival is distinguished as it uses
natural ambience, devoid of artificial devices, even for amplifying actors’
voices. Bamboo and straw are the sole materials employed for constructing the
stage and seating arrangements, emphasising sustainability.
The drama event produces an exceptional
genre, attracting audiences from Indian States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Manipur along with neighbouring Bangladesh.
As the festival hosts the 14th edition,
the Badungduppa Kalakendra looks forward to the Silver Jubilee celebration in
2024.
The festival seeks to undertake an
introspective journey down the memory lane to facilitate a discursive session
of self-evaluation and retrospection.
The unique festival began with staging
of Rabha language play titled Madaiah Muchi by Sukracharjya Rabha.
Same afternoon, Bengali play Srijon Hobe
Kabe by scriptwriter and director Bidyutjit Chakraborty was staged by
Agartala’s Kalabhumi.
On December 16, Pala Kuntala, a Bengali
play by West Bengal’s Chena Adhuli will be staged. The script and direction are
by Rajat Das.
Same afternoon, Assamese play Ratnakar
will be performed by Guwahati’s Purbaranga. The script and direction are by
Gunakar Dev Goswami.
On December 17, Chhattisgarhi and Hindi
play Charandas Chor will be performed by Bhopal’s Naya Theatre. The play is
directed by Habib Tanvir.
On all days, the plays will be followed
by discussions in the evening around the warmth of bonfire.
About Founder Sukhracharjya
Sukracharjya was a student leader during
and after the Assam agitation. He started directing plays in the late 1980s,
addressing the many ills that plagued his society — alcoholism, deforestation,
government corruption, lack of focus among the youth, the greed of the builders
lobbies and so on. By the mid-1990s, he also made a name for himself as an
actor.
In 1998, Sukracharjya set up the
Badungduppa Kalakendra on a patch of land owned by his father. He named his
theatre centre after a bamboo string-and-drum instrument that is an integral
part of Rabha music.
The very next year, at the Assam Natya
Sammelan in Barpeta, Badungduppa staged a Rabha-language play for the first
time.
The botany graduate from Goalpara
College had witnessed how his village and its young people had suffered owing
to the political unrest that rocked the state in the 1980s and its aftermath.
NE Watch Desk
