Prayagraj: “Samrat Ashok” concludes theatre fest at NCZCC

The play successfully presented on stage different facets of Ashoka--The Great, who adopted Buddhism after massacring thousands in a war to fulfil his desires.

With an impressive depiction of Emperor Ashok’s character in a play titled “Samrat Ashok”, the ongoing four-day theatre festival, organised by Vinod Rastogi Smriti Sansthan, Prayagraj came to an end here at the auditorium of North Central Zone Cultural Centre (NCZCC) on Saturday.

Play being staged at NCZCC auditorium on Saturday. (HT photo)

The play, written by Padma Shri Daya Prakash Sinha, and directed by Chitaranjan Tripathi, was staged by the theatre group Darpan of Gorakhpur and was produced by Ravi Shankar Khare.

The play successfully presented on stage different facets of Ashoka--The Great, who adopted Buddhism after massacring thousands in a war to fulfil his desires. His ugly face turned calm and tranquil only after he adopted Buddhism and started chanting ‘Buddham Sharanam Gachchhami’, the play portrayed.

The script highlighted those episodes from history books which were usually ignored by the dramatists to let people know the cruelty of Ashok and his lust for power. After touching the extreme of barbaric deeds, Ashok turned to be a peace-loving Buddhist, informed Ravi Shankar Khare.

Those who participated in “Samrat Ashok” included Rahul Singh Chandel, Sharad Srivastava, Ravindra Rangdhar, Ankita Singh, Rina Jaiswal, Vimalendu Upadhyay, Rakesh Arya, Vishal Mishra, Ritika Singh, Saurabh Chaudhary, Anupriya Chauhan, and Chandra Prakash Sharma. Direction assistance was provided by Manoj Sharma.