25-03-2023 (Saturday)
Better Half
Chetna Rang Samooh, Bhopal
Asish Srivastav
Hindi
THE DIRECTOR…..
Ashish Srivastava was born on 14 September, Bhopal. Education-M. Com, LLB, Bhopal University. He did One year residential theatre diploma from HCRFTA (National School of Drama extension program ,2001 Batch) .He was awarded Junior Fellowship by Ministry of Culture, New Delhi in 2001.The founder member of Chetna Theatre Group .He has been doing theatre in Bhopal since 1995.He has directed many critically acclaimed Plays like Thank You Mr Glad, Madhavi, Daakghar, Good Woman of Setzual, Sardiyon Ka PhirWahi Mausam, Saath Saath, Death of a Salesman, Pati-Patni Aur Court , Badi Behenji, Prithviraj Chauhan, & Better Half.
He has Written five full length plays which have been staged in famous theatrical festivals across the country.
He has worked as a Supervising Producer, Creative and Writer in many big production houses of Mumbai Film Industry. He also wrote a full-length children’s feature film called “DOST”.
THE GROUP…..
Chetna Group was established in the year 2002 with the objective of providing a platform to young artists. Chetna has performed more than 500 theatrical performances of 40 plays across the country along with the country’s largest and prestigious theatrical festival Bharat Rang Mahotsav. The organization regularly organizes workshops for the children. The organization has started theatrical performances and theatrical functions in the established auditoriums as well as in the auditoriums of schools, colleges, hospitals and major factories.
The organization has also constructed a Terrace Theater in the Neelbad area of Bhopal in 2020, in which many plays have been staged and 3 big theatrical festivals have also been organized.
Even during the Corona period, Chetna group organized the country’s first and largest 9-day theatrical festival on Facebook Live, which was seen and appreciated not only by the country but also by the foreign audience.
THE PLAY…..
The story of this play revolves around the life of a Bengali elderly couple. 65 year old Prashant Chatterjee and his 62 year old wife Sudha still love each other after 30 years of marriage. The only child of both is their son Rahul who works in another city. When Sudha’s sudden health deteriorates, the doctor advises Sudha to undergo a minor operation.Sudha does not agree to the operation but at the behest of Prashant, she agrees. Sudha loses her life during the operation and Prashant is left alone.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE…..
At present, almost every other middle class family in India is in the same situation that children go out of their cities to do jobs and both parents are left alone in old age, both have to spend the rest of their lives with the support of each other. In old age, when husband and wife get used to each other so much that they cannot live without each other. At such a time, the shock of the death of one of the spouses cannot be tolerated by the other partner. The surviving partner tries to live on the moments spent with his spouse. Prashant, the main character of the play, also tries to live in the moments spent with him due to the untimely death of his wife Sudha.
He begins to hallucinate that Sudha is with him.. The play operates in both illusion and reality. In illusion, Sudha slowly starts to make him realize that she is in his body. Half of her body is his and half is Sudha’s, so she is his better half. The stage decoration has been kept symbolic so that the play can be played on any stage. Sound and light also have an important role in the play.
OnStage…..
Rajeev Shrivastava
Neeti Shrivastava
Vivek Tripathi
Gaurav Jhode
Sunita Ahire/AshiDhyani
Ashish Ojha
Utkarsh Khare
Ankit Khatarkar/Uvais Khan
OffStage…..
