Play
Our social system is quite strange. This society sometimes criticizes and sometimes rewards someone. Due to greed and profit, people sometimes “blow up” the very symbol of social order. Today’s man is forced to believe that if a lot of money is placed before him, he will change his colour like a snake. That is why places of worship, schools, law enforcement officials, village elders, or the village headman become intoxicated with such a thinking. Only they know what they will gain by exploitation and greed. That is why the word “Begam” is used.
Writer
Pramod Kumar Tripathy (1956-2012) was a successful Odia playwright of the postmodern era. His Odia play – Jeun Banastare Manisha Nahin – translated as ‘An Unlimited Forest,’ received the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1994. His other notable plays include Chau Natak, Dwitiya Mrutyu, Rajakiya, Kalapurusha, Hanu Lipadraba Sanbulua, Ramachandra Pheriasa. Cancer, Nishanta, Partha, Ankurodgama, Shuna Pariksha Dandadhari, and Gote Bula Kukurara Janma Brutanta amongst others.
Director
Sanjay Kumar Saha is a young versatile artiste whose range includes art education, direction, stage design, lighting, and television production. For his productions, Auntarale, Rose, and Uttarana, he has received several awards such as the Best Director’s Award (2014) and the Theatre Director Award (2022). He is registered as a Casual Artist with the Song and Drama Division and has collaborated with many eminent directors as an assistant and designer. Sanjay serves as a Guest Lecturer in Drama at Utkal University of Culture and as a Stage Craft Lecturer at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar. He also works as a Performing Arts Teacher in government schools and coordinates social development programs with various NGOs. He is a recipient of a Government of India Scholarship (2005–2007) and multiple state-level awards.
Director’s Note
I like to stage a play emanating a realistic thought process. Starting with extensive reading of play, rehearsal starts and gradually all the other performative aspects are utilized. I start composition, and movement, modulation, and rehearsal with music. Stage rehearsal is being done till the day before the play with costume, lights, and stage properties. I never opt for any rehearsal on the same day of the performance. To attract the youth, urban or rural, is the major aim.
Group
Established in 1964, Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya (USM) in Bhubaneswar is a premier institution for performing arts education. Initially managed by the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, it functions now under the state Department of Culture since 1982. USM offers comprehensive training in Music, Dance, and Drama from intermediate to Master’s degree levels. The college specializes in ten branches of performing arts, including Odissi Dance, Hindustani Vocal, Tabla, and Drama. Renowned gurus like Padmasree Guru Pankaj Charan Das and Padmasree Sanjukta Panigrahi have shaped its legacy, producing distinguished alumni such as Guru Gangadhar Pradhan and Prof. Ramahari Das.