As the country is commemorating 100 years of Kakori Train incident that happened on August 9, 1925, a group of theatre enthusiasts have come up with a play Kakori Action that will be staged at Kalamandapam auditorium in the state capital on Tuesday.
Play’s director, who is also a faculty at Bhartendu Natya Academy (BNA), Sumit Srivastava says, “After the Uttar Pradesh government replaced the word Kand with Action in reference to the Kakori incident, I thought of presenting this piece of history to the public. Former BNA and Doordarshan director Sushil Kumar Singh, who directed the iconic TV series Bibi Natiyon Wali, wrote the play and with present BNA director Bipin Kumar and BNA repertory manager Privendra Singh we designed this play.”
During the play, 21 actors from repertory and even outside will be seen in different roles including Pawan Sharma (Ram Prasad Bismil), Anil Choudhury (as Chandrashekhar Azad), Sharad Raj Singh (Ashfaqulla Khan), Ajay Kumar (Rajendra Nath Lahiri) and Ritesh Asthana (Sachindra Nath Bakshi).
“We had staged this play in Gorakhpur for Himachal Pradesh governor Shiv Prakash Shukla on October 5. For the first time the play will be staged for public, and being the centenary year of the Kakori Action, it’s very relevant for the audience to know about the freedom struggle and about the freedom fighters who at such a young age, kissed the noose of gallows smiling all the way,” adds Srivastava who has earlier directed plays like Andha Yug, King Lear and Cherry Ka Bagicha.
{{/usCountry}}“We had staged this play in Gorakhpur for Himachal Pradesh governor Shiv Prakash Shukla on October 5. For the first time the play will be staged for public, and being the centenary year of the Kakori Action, it’s very relevant for the audience to know about the freedom struggle and about the freedom fighters who at such a young age, kissed the noose of gallows smiling all the way,” adds Srivastava who has earlier directed plays like Andha Yug, King Lear and Cherry Ka Bagicha.
{{/usCountry}}The music is designed by Anjana Puri. The team has used many folk songs from the heartland which includes Raliya Bairan and others. A large stage has been designed to depict the train incident and bring it alive for the audience. The set has been designed by Gunjan Shukla who is also the assistant director.
Catch it live:
What: Play Kakori Action
When: October 15, 6:30pm
Where: Kalamandapam auditorium, Lucknow