Two Plays: Soul of Kansa and Kokua

Professor Bijoy Kumar Satapathy is a renowned post-modern playwright of Odia literature. He was a professor of the Department of Odia at both Ravenshaw University and Utkal University. Now, he is working in Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences University, Bhubaneswar. A recipient of Odisha Sahitya Akademi for his work Ei Je Surjya Uen in 1987, he has published thirty-five plays and another seventeen performed at All India Radio station, Cuttack. Most of the plays are staged all over Odisha. Some of the notable plays, widely discussed are Kansara Atma, Karna (translated in Bengali), Ei Je Surjya Uen (translated in Hindi), Karagarara Kahani (translated in both Bengali and Hindi), Kokua, Pralaya Pare, Shonita Swakshyara, and Fasilara Nidrabhanga, Pralaya Pare, etc.Along with his creative works, he has published many research articles and books on different genres of Odia literature. In his plays, we can study the elements of myths, legends, traditional practices and folk culture, and transformation technique. Sometimes, Magic Realism is also sincerely observed in his works of art. Most of his plays are social tragedies. His protagonists stand against society and fight to eliminate evil forces and traditional customary practices. The leitmotif of his plays is based upon the ideas of revolution and social transformation. For the last four decades, he has continued his creative writing, including plays, one-act plays, and critical essays on theatre. He is also very active in converting novels and short stories into plays. He has transformed the famous novels like Surendra Mohanty’s novel Nilashaila, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi’s Luhara Manisha, Harekrushna Mahatab’s Trutiya Parba and Manoj Das’s Amruta Phala into plays.

Born in Kendrapada district of Odisha, Sanjeet Kumar Das is a poet, a translator, and an educationist. His poetry collection Asima Jeevan was published in 2021. His translation works include Dr. Bijoy Kumar Satapathy’s Soul of Kansa and Kokua, Dr. Narayan Sahoo’s And the Wretched (2023) and Bewildered God (2023), Dr. Niladri Bhusan Harichandan’s Salabega and Columbus (2023), Sankar Prasad Tripathy’s Nabakalebara, Dr. Bijay Mishra’s play Tata Niranjana (2023) and Dr. Ratnakar Chaini’s play Athacha Chanakya (2023). Currently he works as an Assistant Professor at Department of English Language and Literature, Central University of Odisha, Koraput.