'Double acting' newest feature in mobile theatres

Guwahati, Sept 29: A mobile theatre group in Asom has successfully ventured into the less trodden arena of 'double acting' on stage.

The famed 'Kohinoor' mobile theatre group of the state has produced a play this year in which the lead actress appears on the stage at the same time as two persons.

Owner of the group Ratan Lahkar, talking to mediapersons today said, ''We have experimented with the concept of double acting and have attained considerable success.'' Many groups in the country had tried double acting, a concept where the same person appears in two roles together on the stage.

They had been successful to a very limited extent, but it continued to be a formidable experiment for most.

In Kohinoor theatre's latest play, 'Santa Sista Dusta Suwali', protagonist Prastuti Parasher enacts the role of twins, one of whom is a brat while the other is a quite and polite girl.

While many artists had performed roles of twins even on stage, in no case had they been able to appear together on stage, at least in India, informed Mr Lahkar.

''But my technical staff and script writer, along with the rest of the crew, have made this possible,'' he added.

He said Ms Parasher appeared on stage as two characters at the same time in a couple of scenes in the play.

The leading lady admitted the role was a challenge, ''I had to act out diametrically opposite persons and also appeared as both on them simultaneously for few scenes.'' The play has opened to resounding success and were running to house full shows wherever the theatre performed, with audience demanding more shows.

Mr Lahkar informed that this play was Kohinoor's second outing with the concept of double acting.

He said, ''Mahananda Sharma had performed in a double role in 'Paharor Jui', produced by us long time ago. But his characters had appeared simultaneously only for a single scene and even that was not as technically sound as it is now.'' Kohinoor theatre had earlier created sensation by staging the 'Titanic', becoming the first group to successfully bring the entire tragedy on stage at such a big canvas.

Mr Lahkar said he would never hesitate to experiment with newer themes and concepts though the economic viability would also be a consideration.

UNI