Two Plays - Satapathy, Bijay Kumar

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Résumé :
The Soul of Kansa is of two Acts. Act I highlights the Indian myth, as prescribed in the Mahabharat, of the conflict of vice and virtue. The protagonist, Kansa, stands for evil. This protagonist was of the Dwapar Yuga (Three thousand years earlier was in this Indian peninsula). A tyrannical ruler Kansa oppressed the ordinary people greatly. Kansa is not with us physically; his soul is very much alive in the society. The character Andhak represents the soul of Kansa. The second play, Kokua, revolves around Dhamaguda, a tribal village. Kokua is an imaginary, frightful, and mysterious character of the Mahabharata, one of the great epics of India. The Mahabharata of India has many regional versions in different languages. The Kokua anecdote is well described in Sarala Das's Odia Mahabharata. Kokua comes down, when the degree of doubt, disbelief, terror, murder, and anarchy overpowers the world. Because of the industrial growth and development, the tribes lose their land, rivers, brooks, forests, and simple lifestyles. Their mind gets polluted. The tribes are deprived of their natural rights. The issues of these locals are very beautifully reproduced. Shyamananda is the owner of the Ashram wherein Atanu was a disciple and later becomes the Police Inspector. At the same time, Ajay Marandi was also a disciple and later becomes a Naxal leader or Area Commander. Shyamananda's erstwhile belief was that he would guide rightly the students of this village to follow the path of non-violence. His dream is shattered in due course of time. Shibu (Also known as Sadashiba Rao) is a character supporting the Maoist movement.

Biographie:
Professor Bijoy Kumar Satapathy is a renowned post-modern playwright of Odia literature. He was a professor of the Department of Odia at both Ravenshaw University and Utkal University. Now, he is working in Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences University, Bhubaneswar. A recipient of Odisha Sahitya Akademi for his work Ei Je Surjya Uen in 1987, he has published thirty-five plays and another seventeen performed at All India Radio station, Cuttack. Most of the plays are staged all over Odisha. Some of the notable plays, widely discussed are Kansara Atma, Karna (translated in Bengali), Ei Je Surjya Uen (translated in Hindi), Karagarara Kahani (translated in both Bengali and Hindi), Kokua, Pralaya Pare, Shonita Swakshyara, and Fasilara Nidrabhanga, Pralaya Pare, etc.Along with his creative works, he has published many research articles and books on different genres of Odia literature. In his plays, we can study the elements of myths, legends, traditional practices and folk culture, and transformation technique. Sometimes, Magic Realism is also sincerely observed in his works of art. Most of his plays are social tragedies. His protagonists stand against society and fight to eliminate evil forces and traditional customary practices. The leitmotif of his plays is based upon the ideas of revolution and social transformation. For the last four decades, he has continued his creative writing, including plays, one-act plays, and critical essays on theatre. He is also very active in converting novels and short stories into plays. He has transformed the famous novels like Surendra Mohanty's novel Nilashaila, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi's Luhara Manisha, Harekrushna Mahatab's Trutiya Parba and Manoj Das's Amruta Phala into plays.