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| Zerifa Wahid (standing) and Bornali Puzary in a scene from Prem Aru Prem. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Crisp wit, cutting satire, elaborate Greek comedy-style plots mostly revolving around illicit love affairs and botched relationships have always made the comedy of manners an audience’s darling.
No wonder, when an Assam theatre troupe chose Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, it was lapped up by theatre lovers in Guwahati — though the reviews were somewhat mixed.
The British Restoration play was delightfully adapted into Assamese, Prem Aaru Prem, and staged at Rabindra Bhawan on August 29 and 30.
The plot was more or less loyal to the original.
Raibahadur Primal Chaliha wants his son Dhiraj to marry Pratima, the daughter of his old friend Satyen Chaliha. He sends Dhiraj and his friend Mrinmoy to Chaliha’s house in another village.
Dhiraj and Mrinmoy have never met Chaliha and mistake his home to be a guesthouse.
Dhiraj has always been always shy addressing wealthy ladies and hence he does not even look properly at Pratima when they first meet.
Mrinmoy is enamoured with Pratima’s friend Kanchan, a niece of Chaliha’s wife Malaya.
Basanta, Malaya’s son from her first husband, is careless and unruly, and refuses to marry Kanchan at his mother’s request.
So he offers to help Mrinmoy elope with Kanchan but a chaotic situation disrupts the plan.
Pratima, on the other hand, feigns to be a maid to win Dhiraj’s heart.
As the confusion climaxes, the Raibahadur arrives to untangle the mesh of mistaken identities.
Director Abinash Sarma handles the plot intelligently. However, Hridayananda Gogoi’s script could do with a bit of editing.
Charu Kamal Hazarika’s music was refreshing. The lighting, sound and props were flawless, though there was little innovation.
Regarding the performance, Zerifa Wahid stole the show in the role of Pratima, as did Bornali Puzary as Kanchan.
Seasoned Mihirjyoti Barua, in the role of Chaliha, got the behavioural nuances right.
Equally impressive were Chinmoy Chakrabortty (as Mrinmoy), Ratul Das (as Dhiraj) and Anamika Bordoloi Barua (as Malaya).
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| Zerifa Wahid (standing) and Bornali Puzary in a scene from Prem Aru Prem. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Crisp wit, cutting satire, elaborate Greek comedy-style plots mostly revolving around illicit love affairs and botched relationships have always made the comedy of manners an audience’s darling.
No wonder, when an Assam theatre troupe chose Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, it was lapped up by theatre lovers in Guwahati — though the reviews were somewhat mixed.
The British Restoration play was delightfully adapted into Assamese, Prem Aaru Prem, and staged at Rabindra Bhawan on August 29 and 30.
The plot was more or less loyal to the original.
Raibahadur Primal Chaliha wants his son Dhiraj to marry Pratima, the daughter of his old friend Satyen Chaliha. He sends Dhiraj and his friend Mrinmoy to Chaliha’s house in another village.
Dhiraj and Mrinmoy have never met Chaliha and mistake his home to be a guesthouse.
Dhiraj has always been always shy addressing wealthy ladies and hence he does not even look properly at Pratima when they first meet.
Mrinmoy is enamoured with Pratima’s friend Kanchan, a niece of Chaliha’s wife Malaya.
Basanta, Malaya’s son from her first husband, is careless and unruly, and refuses to marry Kanchan at his mother’s request.
So he offers to help Mrinmoy elope with Kanchan but a chaotic situation disrupts the plan.
Pratima, on the other hand, feigns to be a maid to win Dhiraj’s heart.
As the confusion climaxes, the Raibahadur arrives to untangle the mesh of mistaken identities.
Director Abinash Sarma handles the plot intelligently. However, Hridayananda Gogoi’s script could do with a bit of editing.
Charu Kamal Hazarika’s music was refreshing. The lighting, sound and props were flawless, though there was little innovation.
Regarding the performance, Zerifa Wahid stole the show in the role of Pratima, as did Bornali Puzary as Kanchan.
Seasoned Mihirjyoti Barua, in the role of Chaliha, got the behavioural nuances right.
Equally impressive were Chinmoy Chakrabortty (as Mrinmoy), Ratul Das (as Dhiraj) and Anamika Bordoloi Barua (as Malaya).
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