The play, Swatantryada Ota, wins the hearts of theatre-loving audience in Shivamogga

The two shows of Shivamogga Rangayana’s latest play Swatantryada Ota, based on Bolwar Mahammad Kunhi’s award-winning novel, held on April 25 and 26, received an impressive response from the theatre-loving audience of Shivamogga.

The play opens with a boy dragging a spinning wheel, a charaka, across the stage, a quietly powerful image that immediately establishes the spirit of Gandhian philosophy and sets the tone for all that follows. From that moment, the production captivates through the seamless fusion of evocative music and striking use of colourful light, as scenes from the Partition unfold. Men, women, and children moving across the stage with heavy, burdened steps, carrying their entire lives in their hands. The lighting is so vivid and precisely crafted that the audience feels less like it is watching a play and more like it is standing before a moving painting.