The Department of Theatre Arts, University of Hyderabad presented their annual production ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ from 24 November 2017 to 27 November 2017 at Vrittayanam Open Air Theatre in the Department. The play, which is a political satire based on the life of Nana Phadnavish and Ghashiram Kotwal, was enacted by the first semester students from the department.
‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ is a Marathi play and has been written by Vijay Tendulkar, who was a leading Indian playwright, literary essayist, movie and television writer, and social commentator primarily in Marathi. He is best known for some of his plays like Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe, Sakharam Binder and Ghashiram Kotwal.
The play which is considered a classic in modern Indian theatre is based on Nana Phadnavish and Ghashiram Kotwal and describes how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their purposes, and later destroy them when they become useless.
The play was directed by Prof. Satyabrata Rout, presently working with the Department of Theatre Arts. He is a noted theatre director and scenographer and has directed number of award winning plays such as ‘Matte Ekalavya’ and ‘Tumhara Vincent’, participated in national and international theatre festivals and conducted numerous theatre workshops across the globe. Prof. Rout in 2016 received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for the year 2016 for his remarkable work.
The characters beautifully incarnated each emotion and scene through their acting skills leaving the audience enthralled in the play.
While encouraging the artists and appreciating their work Ruthi Misaki, a student who watched the play opined that everything from the stage setup to actors was great. The stage design was attractive and brilliant. Overall, it was a wonderful performance.
The play was an enormous success due to the efforts of faculty members and students from the department.
By Monika Tiwari
M.A. Communication