“Uttar Kamayni” Staged At Gaiety
3 min read
Shimla, Aug 18 Ritanjali Hastir
A play “Uttar Kamayni” was staged at the historic Gaiety Theater here today by Sankalp Rangmandal in association with Gaiety Dramatic Society.The story revolved around the protagonist Vinayak who is the sole survivor of World War III and is left all alone he is surrounded by dead bodies and feels that it is his duty to provide a proper last rite to each one of them. He tries his best to burry the bodies but soon realizes that they were too many of them and he couldn’t do it all alone.
Like Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish economist said, “Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for”; he starts thinking and asking questions about his own existence and after a lot of brainstorming, he reached to the conclusion that Gods chose him to re-establish the entire race like Adam and Eve so that a new world can be created.
As soon as this thought hits his head all of sudden his lamentation and pain are overcome by Anger and Ego and the lesson he was talking about all the while was forgotten. Once again he was overcome by the vices proving that the only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.
Speaking about the play Director of the play said, “It was a very good script with a lot of potentials. The very thought of being left alone in the world can take one to a different level. My main moto was to give new actors a chance to put the knowledge of their theatrical workshop into practice and spread their creative wings.”
No doubt the play had a thought provoking scrpit with a lot potential and can be called an average attempt as looking at the large picture the play failed to do justice to the script. For incidence if we talk about the costume and makeup Vinayak is seen dragging dead bodies but his effort to drag seemed way too soft and his hands don’t get covered with any blood strain or dirt while doing the job.
After surviving such a horrific incident only his shirt’s pocket is torn and a bit of dirt on one shoulder plus a couple of blood fingerprints as if someone has wiped ketchup from his shirt. His appearance was more that of a man who has been hit and robbed rather than a survivor. Looking at his trousers which were torn at the top of his left leg had no blood mark or any scar on his skin.
Coming to performance Vinayak is a powerful character that has a range of emotions to portray right from confusion and fear born out of being left alone on one hand and at the same time being conscious of his responsibility as a human toward the dead and in the end pride at being a chosen one to anger for Shradha; his counterpart for not responding to his orders and then finally of a man totally engulfed in his Ego. Somewhere actor failed to strike the right cord that can create stark difference between all the emotions.
