Curtain on theatre fest with street dance

Patna, Feb. 7: Theatre may come to you on the streets even if you give it a miss in the halls.

Commuters on the busy thoroughfares of the state capital were in for a treat this morning when members of theatre groups from Manipur, Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Pune, taking part in the 27th Patliputra Natya Mahotsav, took out a natya juloos (drama march).

The procession, organised as a part of the concluding ceremony of the theatre festival, started around 10.30am at Patna Youth Hostel on Frazer Road and went through New Dakbungalow Road and Exhibition Road before returning to its starting point. The participants halted at a number of places en-route and performed folk dances like Bihu, Raut and Kabui.

Though the traffic was blocked at some of the places, the commuters did not mind.

One of them, Sanjay Kumar, a 25-year old student, said: "I have never seen such a procession before. So, when I saw the performers on Frazer Road, I started to take pictures."

The performers ' no strangers to interacting with the audience ' were pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm of the Patna crowd.

P.P. Biswas, director, Geeta Art and Nritya Association, Chhattisgarh, who took part in the festival, said: "In the course of the Mahotsav, I observed the audience interacting with the performers.

They discussed our performance with us and told us what they liked or disliked. Such interaction is very important for the growth of the artistes."

Biswas and his group performed Rawat ' a traditional dance performed by cowherds during Diwali. Close on their heels was a performance of Dandia by Radhekrishna Group of Pune.

Education minister P.K. Shahi was the chief guest in the evening.

Soma Chakraborty, a member of Prangan ' the organisation that had co-ordinated the festival, said: "Groups from 11 states took part in the festival this year. Thirty-four plays, including 11 nukkad natak (street theatre), were performed. Of the remaining, 12 took part in the competition that we organised, and 11 were non-competitive."

The awards in various categories were distributed in the evening at Kalidas Rangalaya ' the venue of the festival.