Festival of love, satire, drama

has found a man, a professor who is working with atomic energy and doing research on the same subject. He also writes rock rap songs, has a sense of humour and is “a great man,” she says. The husband is very jealous and when the doorbell rings, she thinks it is the professor who has come to get her, and the husband goes out and shoots himself. Now whether it was the professor or some other person at the door, we do not know at the end of the play.

Umbrella Theatre Festival took off on 28th September with a play on the poems of Muktibodh directed by Kuldeep.

The first play was Bade Bhai Sahab and the second one was Gulli Danda. Both were based on stories written by Premchand. ‘ Bade Bhai Sahab’ is a story of two brothers, Kamta Prasad aged 17 and Samta Prasad aged 12. They live in a hostel and while Samta is more interested in playing with friends, he is terrified of his brother and to please him he starts studying the moment he sees him. Kamta is the opposite, he is a real bookworm and is studying all the time but in the end he fails again, while Samta comes first in his class.

The second play was ‘ Gulli Danda,’ in which a young officer goes back to his village to recce the ground for future construction. He remembers the gulli danda games that he played with his friends.

Mohit Tripathi as the younger brother in Bade Bhai Sahab was very good, while Deep Kumar as the elder brother showed flashes of talent. Both the plays had a likeness of touch as suited the subject.

Inspired by the turbulent times of Guru Dutt, Gardish Mein Taare, directed by Saif Haider Hasan and presented by Mildly Classic, is a play that could hardly be put in the same category as the plays mentioned above.

Written by Summana Ahmed and with a cast of Arif Zakaria and Sonali Kulkarni, it is a passionate love story of a director and the star he makes out of his wife.

The play features the usual drama of cheating in love and both characters die in the end.