GUWAHATI, June 19 ? The young artistes from United Artist, Tezpur, have once again done their country proud by winning accolades with their stellar performance at the 18th International Amateur Theatre Festival held at Denizli, Turkey from May 20 to 25. The play they staged there was School Bag, written and directed by Aiswaryya Kakoty, the founder director of the group. Critics and viewers alive were unstinting in showering praise on the six young performers ? Priyam Sarma, Rukmini Kakoty, Rashmi Rekha Baruah, Barnali Saikia, Snehangsu Kakoti and Ratul Deka ? for their matured and natural acting. The subject and theme of the play also came in for high plaudits. Ten countries including Algeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Istonia, Kosova and India took part in the six-day festival.
Aiswaryya Kakoti, while narrating his troupe?s experience in Turkey during the festival, today told newsmen that it had been richly rewarding experience and a great exposure for the child artistes. The people in Turkey have great artistic sensibility and they take a lot of interest in Indian art and culture. The response of the audience was overwhelming and we got a standing ovation every time we staged the play,? he said while showing the certificates and mementos received there.
The play School Bag successfully portrays the serious drawbacks of the modern educational system for children ? how being pre-occupied with attending school, overburdened with homework, tuition and sky-high unrealistic expectations from parents, they cease to become their normal selves and get distanced from nature. This leads to a loss of social, moral and human and ultimately they end up becoming more or less a robot. ?The message the play conveys is loud and clear, and it is high time the society woke up to this stark reality and did something to save the children,? said Kakoti. ?Our mission is to bring unity and peace among the children of the new generation,? he added.
Priyam Sarma, one of the artistes, giving an account of her experience in Turkey, said she thought herself to be luck to represent the country in an international meet. ?We came across different peoples and different cultures, and had interactions with them. All this will definitely be of immense help for having our talent,? she remarked. BMD Agrawal, the secretary general of the National Institute of Performing Arts, (NIPA), New Delhi, eulogised the efforts of Kakoti and said he was instrumental in promoting children?s theatre of the country at the international level. He expressed the hope that under the able stewardship of Kakoti who is also the North-East coordination of NIPA, performing arts of the region will scale glorious heights. It is worth mentioning here that the group has already performed in a number of national and informational theatre festivals including those in Germany (1998), Croatia and Austria (1999) and Switzerland (2000).