BHUBANESWAR: They were ordinary tribal slum-dwellers of Bhubaneswar who rubbed shoulders with veterans of theatre from all across the country at the ongoing national multi-lingual drama festival here. And they claimed rave response as well.

On Monday evening, the Rabindra Mandap auditorium witnessed a drama with a difference. It was a Santali play `Banchao Eyaj Janam Ayo' (I will save my mother) staged by the all-Orissa Santali cultural outfit `Adim Aur Jarpa' (literary translated primitive tribe uplift association).

Like their life style -- simple, straight and honest -- there were no signs of sophistication in their production.

While the story was simple -- how an educated son neglects the mother while the uneducated son sells his organs to save the old woman's life -- there were no stage properties, light or sound arrangements to add the usual dramatic effects.

Acting prowess

But what touched the spectators was the natural acting prowess of the actors who comprised the daily wage earners of different age groups, both men and women. And of course children.

"Even though I could not understand the language, their actions and expressions were adequate to communicate the plot," observed dramatist and the festival organiser Dhira Mallick of Satabdira Kalakar, the theatre organisation that is hosting the event.

"All the actors are from remote tribal villages of Mayurbhanj district who stay in the city's slums to earn a livelihood as daily labourers. They had hardly any time to come for regular rehearsals. Yet we are happy that they put up a perfect show. We are quite moved the way the women performed the tribal dance on stage," acknowledged Khelaram Hembram, the director of the play, beaming a smile of victory.

"Disintegration of the joint family system has been a common phenomenon in Indian middle class society. Our tribal society has been affected by this tragic trend these days too. I have tried to show it in the play," explained Sukul Hansdah who scripted the story.

For Sita Mardi, a young tribal woman who essayed the character of the old woman with elan, it was an experience for lifetime.

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