A scene from Sambalpuri play Kuhuluche, Juwe Jalaba presented at the Pancham Veda Drama festival. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 4: Themes based on social issues are dominating the ongoing state-level drama festival organised by Pancham Veda at Rabindra Mandap in the city.

Like the first two days, a play on the third day of the festival, revolved around problems faced by underprivileged people. The Sambalpuri drama Kuhuluchhe, Juwe Jalaba, meaning ‘the fire of revolt is ready’ gave a glimpse of issues such as corruption that create barriers in the implementation of benefit schemes announced by the government.

The drama, staged by Sambalpuri cultural outfit Swara, was based on the life of a poor and illiterate villager Gadadhar. While he is not able to earn enough in the village, Gadadhar, whose family includes a wife and son, takes an extreme step for the survival of his family. Though unhappy, he makes preparations to send his son to work as a migrant labour to another state. But some locals suggest him to go for the various government schemes that would help him avail a loan for a house and his son’s education.

Gadadhar contacts officials who in turn take advantage of his illiteracy. They apply on behalf of Gadadhar for the benefits of the scheme but use the money before it reaches him. While the poor man makes rounds of the office for two years, expecting to receive the loan, he finally gets a bank notice for not having started making payments.

The play was directed by Panchanan Mishra. “The artistes worked very hard since this was their debut on stage and it is a state-level event,” said Mishra. “To create an impact, we included light effects and interactive dialogues between the artistes and the audience in many scenes,” he added.

The play was written by Debendra Patel and the stage was designed by Jasobant Raut. The response of the audience was encouraging, feel the artistes.

“People watched the play till the end though it was quite late in the evening. We wish to do even better in future,” said Dambrudhar Dikshit, one of the performers.

“The play was interesting since the pace was good and the story was realistic. But we are looking forward to watch some positive dramas, comedies or stories on urban life too,” said Pramod Dhal, a member of the audience.

The festival will conclude on February 7.