The 9th popular short-play festival Natya Darpan, held in Edison, NJ 

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The 9th annual theater festival Natya Darpan 2024, held August 24, 2024, and hosted by Indian Heritage and Cultural Association of New Jersey (IHCA-NJ) at the Middlesex County College in Edison (NJ), was a great success, featuring an array of short plays selected by a panel.

The day-long festival kicked off with an audio visual message from India’s Consul General of India in New York, Binaya Srikanta Pradhan’s best wishes to organizers.

Founder of IHCA-NJ Dr. Ashok Chaudhary welcomed guests and thanked his team. A lamp-lighting ceremony preceded the performances.

Among those present were Chief Guest Political Consul of India Shruti Pandey; Edison Councilman Ajay Patil; Isha Vyas, division head of Folklife and Cultural Heritage; and Middlesex County Commissioner Deputy Director Shanti Narra. They were felicitated by the executive team members, after which each of the dignitaries spoke about the festival and its growth and success over the years.

This year Natya Darpan showcased 8 short plays on varied subjects, staged by local actors and diverse groups from various cities in the US.

The first play, ‘Beyond the Land of Hattamala’ (English) directed by Makarand Bhave, written by Badal Sircar, one of India’s prominent playwrights, and English translation by Suchanda Sarkar, was a tale of two thieves who, trying to escape from their pursuers, jump into a river. They drift and finally find themselves in an incredible land where their socioeconomic beliefs are challenged.

The second play ‘Albie and the Dogs’ (Marathi) directed by Amruta, was about a man on a mission to recover his lost hard disk, which contains ten billion dollars’ worth of bitcoins. To accomplish this, he hires the most advanced AI dogs Doge and Shiba from the largest tech company in the world., was an interesting take on of the current cryptocurrency and modern digital trends.

The next play, ‘The Tiger’ (English) originally written by Murray Schisgal, was directed by Sanjay Shetye. The story was about Vik who is a natively intelligent but slightly unstrung young man in revolt against a system which consigns him to being a mail carrier and to living in a tumble-down basement apartment. In a gesture of defiance, he kidnaps a young woman and drags her to his lair, the object being that she will do as and what he orders – fulfilling the urge for domination that life has hitherto denied him.

The 4th play ‘No Man’s Land’  written by Mojaffor Hossain with stage adaptation by Golan Sarwar Harun, directed by Golam Sarwar Harun and Gargi Mukherjee, was about the absurdities of bureaucracy, red-tape and how in conforming to such methods, atrocities are committed, and humanity is compromised in an unforgivable way.

‘Chauthi Cigarette’ (Hindi), the 5th play written by Yogesh Tripathi and directed by Ameeya Mehta, shed light on a number of social issues like class divide, or the age-old debate between socialism and capitalism or the unfulfilled human aspirations. Vireshwar Sengupta the protagonist, an established writer, having socialistic views, struggled financially all his life. His college friend Samarendu Sanyal is an established businessman desperate to gain fame. After years, when they suddenly meet, the play takes an interesting turn.

The 6th play ‘American Bhoot’ (English) written and directed by Dan Swern was based on a true story about an Indian immigrant, mother, survivor of domestic violence, former Wall Street associate, becoming homeless in Middlesex County. A heart-wrenching story through the woman’s own words, the play is taken verbatim, developed from an 18-hour interview conducted by the author.

‘The Blind’ (English) was the 7th play directed by Anand Rao that narrated the story of a stormy night in the home of David, a blind singer, his daughter Anna, and his wife Helen. The night turns turbulent as the sleepless characters unravel, and in the end, find freedom from their shackles, and wisdom in their circumstances. Authored by the renowned Lebanese-American poet and author Kahlil Gibran, ‘The Blind’ was a lyrical and poetic masterpiece, rich with metaphors and imagery.

The 8th and final play ‘Sarhad’ (Marathi/Hindi) written by Nikita Thube was directed by Satyajit Deshpande, tracks the friendship of two young boys Jamal and Kishan, that transcends the borders of the 2 hostile nations India and Pakistan. This emotional story conveyed the faith the two youngsters Jamal and Kishan put in each other and gave us a message that if given a chance, national borders don’t have to divide.

Dr. Chaudhary, in his speech, complimented, “the incredibly cultured, intelligent and loyal audience” that has helped the festival continuously grow over the years. A research scientist by profession, Dr. Chaudhary has been involved in many nonprofit organizations for the last 30 years He started IHCA-NJ in 2013.

Natya Darpan has been growing and expanding helped by its directors, advisors, extremely knowledgeable selection committee and innumerable volunteers make this herculean task seem very easy, organizers said in the press release. The festival is also supported by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners and the Consul General of India in New York along with individual sponsors.