GUWAHATI, Feb 19 - Aahaar, a landmark Assamese play written by Arun Sarma in the mid-sixties and considered to be the first play of the Absurd in the history of Assamese literature, will be staged at the Madhabdeva International Auditorium of Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra on February 24 and 25.
The play is the first venture of Kopil Bora & Company, a production house started by popular actor Kopil Bora and his friends to promote Assamese theatre.
The play, directed by acclaimed theatre personality Abinash Sarma, will be staged from 4 pm on both days.
The play has a single female protagonist who plays five different roles within the same play. This is another unique and appealing feature of the play.
Zerifa Wahid, who plays the role of the female protagonist, said it is a wish of every artiste to do the play and she is no exception. �Playing five different characters in the same play will be a lifetime experience,� she said addressing reporters at a press conference attended by the organisers and artistes of the event.
The four central male characters will be enacted by Kopil Bora, Ranjul Boruah, Suruj Kalita and Partha Hazarika.
The sets for the play will be by Umakanta Sonowal and light by Dimple Das, costumes by Rani Dutta Baruah and make-up by Amit Singh. The original music of the play has been composed by Lian Sharma.
The play, to be staged under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Govt of India and in collaboration with the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra Society, will be inaugurated by filmmaker Jahnu Baruah.
�This play written by Arun Sarma in 1964 gave a different dimension to Assamese drama,� Abinash Sarma, who had earlier directed seven other plays of Arun Sarma, said about Aahaar.
He, however, rued that Assamese theatre is suffering due to inadequate infrastructure and lack of support from the State government.
�Rabindra Bhawan is closed for months now as renovation works are going on. Kalakshetra too does not have the adequate infrastructure. But of late, the Ministry of Culture has started giving some aid�that has been some succour,� the director said, adding that theatre too can be treated as an industry and steps taken to promote it.