In The Lap Of Nature: Assam’s Unique Theatre Fest Where Local Meets Global
Team TNE
Every year towards the end, Rampur in Assam’s Goalpara district, about 140 kilometres west of Guwahati, comes alive with a unique event called the Sal Tree International Theatre Festival. From a humble beginning in 2009, it has emerged as a noticeable event in Assam’s cultural calendar in the past few years with groups from abroad and different states of the country staging their plays.
The hallmark of the festival is the complete absence of artificial devices. Only natural settings are made use of, including bamboo and straw to construct the stage and seating arrangement for the spectators.
Late Sukracharjya Rabha was the brain behind the drama festival. The ‘Badungduppa Kalakendra’, a collective founded by Rabha under the guidance of noted Manipuri theatre artiste Heisnam Kanhailal, has been organizing the event for the past one decade.
Rabha, a winner of the Ustad Bishmillah Khan Yuva Puraskar and known across the country for his exceptional brand of theatre, breathed his last three years ago following a massive stroke. His sudden demise has fuelled speculation whether the fest would continue with his absence. Recently, various government departments have stepped in to offer financial assistance to Badungduppa Kalakendra which has also developed as a theatre residency with students putting up on its premises and learning the skills of theatre.
