The playlet ‘Himsadwani’ – sound of violence held the theatre buffs riveted to seats at Kalabharati Visakhapatnam. The theme traces the reason behind depression in teens, whose over-aspirational parents pressing their wards to realise their hopes regardless of the latter’s aptitudes. Being the director, Naidu Gopi’s 78th performance, the artistes of Gangotri Peda Kakani staged it after a a decade keeping its tempo and verve intact.
The well-knit plot woven around Kalpana, a teenager, in preparation for EAMCET in the stream of medicine, remains reflective of the pressure on the young minds
Rajeswari (T Lakshmi) and Seshu (Gummadi Nageswara Rao) spare no effort to pressurise their only daughter Kalpana ( B Varalakshimi) to stay focused on nothing but admission into medical college. . Krishnaiah the owner of the house, who stays in the adjacent portion, is the only one in whose company, Kalapna finds comfort. Sivayya, the grandfather of Kalapana sells off his land in his village to meet the exorbitant fee in college. He always cautions his son not to remain obsessed with medical profession for Kalpana . After a few dramatic turns and twists in the narrative, Kalpana, unable to bear the stress, turns insane. Resuscitated parents rue their folly and the grandpa Sivayya takes her to village far from the madding crowd of the city that remains insensitive to the sensibilities of young minds .
The play opens with a symbolic scene with the Jesus slowly climbing on a heavy cross and a crown of thorns and from the other side a batch of students carrying a heavy load of school bags on their backs. The same scene at the end brings the curtains down. The scene of presenting different textual syllabus as ghosts haunting the student’s mind as nightmares effectively captured the agony of budding minds An artiste in the making B Varalakshmi delivered a remarkable performance as Kalpana. Valluri Sivaprasad was the script writer. Directorial acumen of Naidu Gopi was evident in every frame.
