REHEARSALS FOR STAGING OF ‘AFWAH

REHEARSALS FOR STAGING OF ‘AFWAH’

22-OCT-ENG 10

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-------------------------The popular radio play 'Afwah' (Rumor), authored by the renowned Bhojpuri litterateur and Padma Shri recipient Rameshwar Singh Kashyap, is set to be staged at the Bhikhari Thakur Sanskritik Manch (Cultural Stage) as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the Bhikhari Thakur Samajik Shodh Sansthan (Social Research Institute). Rehearsals for the play commenced on the occasion of Vijayadashami. It is worth noting that another of Rameshwar Singh Kashyap’s works, the play 'Loha Singh Ka Morcha', was broadcast on the radio for several decades and enjoyed immense popularity. While the original script for 'Afwah' was written by Padma Shri Rameshwar Singh Kashyap, the adaptation for the stage was crafted by theatre artist Ambuj Kumar. The play will be presented under the direction of Ambuj Kumar during the upcoming silver jubilee 'Lokrang Ras' (Folk-art/Cultural) festival and awards ceremony. The concept for this stage production was developed by senior theatre artist Chandrabhushan Pandey. The rehearsals began at the Bhikhari Thakur Sanskritik Manch with the traditional breaking of a coconut and the garlanding of a statue of Bhikhari Thakur. Subsequently, the cast—Anil Singh, Kunal Kumar, Bharat Arya, Pappu Singh, and Ramsukh Rai—rehearsed the play's dialogues, while singer Kamlesh Paswan performed one of the songs featured in the production. Present on the occasion were the institute’s founding president and senior journalist Narendra Singh, organizing secretary Ravi Prakash Suraj, co-secretary Alok Singh, journalists Vijay Kumar Singh, Manoj Kumar Yadav, and Sunil Kumar Singh, as well as Gandhi Ji and Vishal Kumar.