Dharmagola

The plot of Dharmagola is set in a remote area of the Indian state Tripura. The story depicts an ethnic community named Riang revolting against the Tripura King who is patronised by the British imperial Lords.

The protagonist of the play Ratanmoni Riang inspires transcendentalists to revolt against the King of Tripura for illegally using his power. The play also portrays the traitors and the impact of their betrayal during the revolution.

The most remarkable thing in this ethnic play is that the dramatist explains through a narrator his logic of using standard Tripura language as the dialect of the tribal people what the ethnic playwrights in Bangladesh never do. However, Kamol Roychawdhury could not convey the depth of the theme of the play through the dramatic action. The narration only touched it in an implicit way.

Director of the play Sanjoy Kar unfolds the story of the play through Kabigaan, which is a popular performing art form in the rural areas of the Indian subcontinent. He maintains all the required techniques of Bangla Acting Form and repeatedly alienates his characters from the play through Kabigaan and narration, which is the basic concept of this particular theatre.

Diponkar Barman's set is very simple. He has used a few stools on the stage as the set elements and has also tried to apply Chowkonakhola Mancha technique, as is seen in the traditional jatra. He has created new sequences by changing just one craft at the backstage.

Debol Chatterjee's light design is also very simple, but more symbolic colour effect could be used.

Except Sonjoy Kar, all the artistes are of average standard. Sonjoy Kar's voice modulation and rhythmic body movement is quite impressive.