‘Janmamati’ Staged on the Fifth Evening of Srasta’s State-Level Annual Theatre Festival

Balasore, February 6 (Krushna Kumar Mohanty): The play Janmamati was staged on the fifth evening of the 48th State-Level Annual Theatre Festival organised by the theatre group Srasta, with support from the Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department.
The evening was dedicated to the memory of eminent industrialist, culture-loving social worker, reformer and organiser late Himanshu Das. The programme was sponsored by his sons Sangram Das and Sanjay Das.

Held at the Gandhi Smruti Bhavan, the programme was graced by noted columnist and culture enthusiast Dr Subas Chandra Patra, President of the Fakir Mohan Sahitya Parishad, as Chief Guest. Prasanna Kumar Das, Vice-President of Srasta and a well-known actor and theatre director, attended as Guest of Honour. Both speakers reflected on the role of theatre in the present time, highlighting how meaningful themes in drama create social awareness and offer direction to society.

The meeting, organised under the direct supervision of playwright Hemendra Mahapatra, Secretary of Srasta, was presided over by the President Alok Kumar Sahu, who delivered the introductory address. Brahmanath Rath, Director of 'Baleswar Darpan', conducted the stage proceedings, while playwright Pitambar Das proposed the vote of thanks.

This was followed by the staging of 'Janmamati' by Rourkela-based theatre group 'Sampark'. The play was written by Padma Shri Manoranjan Das and directed by Bhaskar Chandra Mahapatra. The performance featured powerful and nuanced acting by Bijay Patra, Bhaskar Mahapatra, Surendra Padhy, Vivekananda Das, Pralaya Satapathy, Sudeshna Rout, Pushpa Bisoi, Shakti Mishra, Sasmita Bej, Subhashree Swain, Shreyasi Pradhan, Pratithi, Kalyani, Satyabrata Das, among others, providing rich entertainment to the audience.

Members of Srasta including Dibakar Mahanti, Gouri Shankar Sahani, Samarai Kar, Sangram Mahanti, Ram Chandra Mahapatra, Saroj Rout, Ratikanta Malik, Madan Mohan Sahu, Ajit Panda, Pushpita Padhy, Girija Shankar Kar, Pradeep Satapathy, Rashmi Ranjan Das, Biswajit Mahapatra, Manoranjan Das, Swagatika Barik, Swati Smita Das, Sumana Parida, Swati Panda, Rituraj Barik, Saurajit Sahu, Anubha Satapathy, Santosh Kamila and others ensured the smooth and disciplined conduct of the programme.