Of characters and rolesInterestingly, in the
play Golakonda, 18 artists will play 182 characters. “The Nishumbita team will stage nine variations of mime act and human puppetry for the first time in Hyderabad and perform Grips theatre, where adults act like children on stage. Stories for the puppetry act are from Panchatantra,” elaborates Ram. For Aditi Bhattacharya, coordinator with Gitanjali Devshala school, working with Nishumbita for the past two years has been amazing. This time she will perform two opposite roles in two plays. “I am playing one of the central characters in Khamosh Adalat Jari Hai, where I am an unmarried pregnant woman in her mid-30s whom the society has ostracised. Another role is with Dr Rammohan in The Chairs, an absurdist “tragic farce” play by Eugene Ionesco. The play revolves around an old couple, who are seen frantically arranging chairs for a series of invisible guests and eventually commiting suicide. Dr Rammohan handheld us a lot, taking us through the entire learning and acting process,” shares Aditi. Another actor who will be seen in all the seven plays is Sai Kumar, a postgraduate student at Osmania University. “I am not doing any huge roles, but all the roles are important to the plot. I am playing a slave in Kukka, an intellectual theatre artist in Khamosh… and a king in Golakonda,” says Sai, who is balancing his ongoing examinations and rehearsals. Abha Naktode, who has been with the Nishumbita team for six years now, will be seen in three performances — mime, puppetry and Golakonda. The MA
Kuchipudi student from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University will be seen as Ravana in puppetry and Bhagyamati in Golakonda. “All the three roles are challenging, but my favourite role will be of Ravana’s as it has lots of layers. My knowledge of Kuchipudi has helped me a lot to emote on stage,” concludes Abha.
December 18-24. Nishumbita School of Drama,
Begumpet (7 pm)
— reshmichakravorthy@newindianexpress.com 
