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 SUKRACHARJYA
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.
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