Bhopal: Based on the short story ‘The Prisoner of Zembla,’ written by American short story writer O Henry, a Hindi play ‘Prisoner’ was staged in Bharat Bhawan on Friday- the fourth day of nine-day drama fest ‘Madhya Pradesh Rangotsav’.
Directed by Ravishanker Joshi, dramatised by Punit Sharma, the play is a story about an incident happened long ago in one kingdom. From the first sight the plot is quite common – the king argued with his daughter and announced about a joust. The price was princess herself. Many honoured knights came to fight for princess, they admired her beauty, but when saw her chewing a gum, saddle their horses and rode away. Only two were left. One of them was princess’ beloved. He won the joust, but princess is not what he wants. This funny story will entertain and cheer you up. Suggestive set, costumes, lights, music and make-up were used aptly. It was presented by Rangrupiya Theatres, Indore.
Henry was always a lover of classic literature, and while pursuing his many ventures, he had begun writing as a hobby. When he lost his banking position he moved to Houston in 1895 and started writing for the The Post, earning $25 per month (an average salary at this time in American history was probably about $300 a year, less than a dollar a day). His prolific writing period began in 1902 in New York, where he wrote 381 short stories. He wrote one story a week for The New York World Sunday Magazine for over a year. Some of his best and least known works is contained in ‘Cabbages and Kings’ ‘The Cop and the Anthem’ and many others. His most famous short story, The Gift of the Magi, epitomises his style.
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