Five-day theatre fest opens with Agatha Christie’s murder mystery

Noted playwright Kewal Dhaliwal opened the five-day theatre festival in city showcasing adaptations of critically acclaimed plays. The festival is being hosted by Manch-Rangmanch, Amritsar, and Virsa Vihar Society. Kewal Dhaliwal along with National School of Drama alumni Partho Banerjee and Pritpal Rupana opened the festival as students of drama who participated in the month-long National Theatre Workshop enacted the play.

Agatha Christie’s famous short play, ‘Witness of Prosecution’, was adapted into a Hindi play ‘Gawahi’, directed by Pritpal Rupana. The play was based on suspense, drama and mysteries of human behaviour and played out over two hours.

A courtroom drama, ‘Gawahi’ depicted Agatha Christie’s signature storytelling, through the lens of a crime and its perpetrators. In ‘Gawahi’, the story revolves around a murder case, like a perfect whodunnit. Several characters are introduced with a suspicious history through the victim.

As the story moves on, through court proceedings and a witness, who claims to have pointed out the culprit, one is immersed in the game of guessing the trail.

In the climax, like a true-twisted ending, the murderer turns out to be the one enjoying the least bit of suspicion.

The theatre students who enacted this play included those who took part in the workshop. Dhaliwal, who is the festival director, said that the five-day event will bring out the most immersive, engaging stories and formats of drama.

Amritsar