15th Annual Brajanath Sharma Memorial inter-state Drama Festival to begin from today

Guwahati (Assam) [India], September 12 (ANI): The 15th Annual Brajanath Sharma Memorial Inter-State Drama Festival by well-known amateur theatre group Samahar Natya Gosthee will be held from September 12 to September 15 at the District Library Auditorium in Assam’s Guwahati.

The Drama Festival Committee President Lalit Sarma said that it is indeed a very happy moment for us to formally announce the programme of the festival.

“During its 14 years of existence, this festival has become a very important and landmark cultural event of the state. Now, it is a big responsibility on our shoulders to make it a grand success like the previous years,” he said.

Since 2007, Samahar has been organising this annual theatre extravaganza in the hallowed memory of Brajanath Sharma — the father of Assamese Moving (mobile) Theatre. He was the pioneer of modern Assamese theatre and had first brought women on stage to introduce co-acting in the state in 1933.

Sharma, the unique firebrand freedom fighter, had destroyed and set ablaze the British aerodrome at Bornagar, Sarbhog police station, post office, etc. in Barpeta district.

According to the schedule of the 15th edition of the festival, on the first day (12th September), the inauguration ceremony of the festival will be held and the festival lamp will be lit by Brajanath Sharma’s daughter Hiranbala Devi and granddaughter Neelakshi Mishra Sharma.

The festival will be inaugurated by veteran politician, intellectual and writer Hemen Das. The souvenir of the festival ‘Kohinoor’ will be released by eminent writer and former President of Bodo Sahitya Sabha Toren Boro.

The ceremony will be followed by the play of the first night. Drasta from Guwahati will present “PIL-99,” written by eminent playwright Sitanath Lahkar. The play, directed by Indrajit Kakati, mainly highlights rampant corruption, even in the name of drinking water, and poignantly presents how the verdict of the people’s legal battle is stalled by the powers that be.