October 2020

Broadway blockbusters that ran for over 1000 shows half a century ago staged a comeback in local hands recently. However, the fact that popularity has no bearing on lasting relevance […]

Violence has become so ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives that, shamefully, it ceases to appal us as it should. I think of innocents killed during elections in this state; I

Both of the most prolific writers for the Bengali theatre today have composed plays on the oppression of women starring three famous female characters in each. Tirthankar Chanda takes the

Two modern classics in Bengali avatars, about famous artists at the ends of their lives, exemplify the polar opposites of theatrical transference. Jadavpur Manthan merits plaudits for choosing Ibsen’s final

Good that regional-language theatres have discovered the stageability of original drama by Indians in English, once regarded as infra-dig. Among them, of course, the academically-certified poster boy is Mahesh Dattani,

Whoever says that English theatre in Kolkata has dropped into the doldrums has either not seen the glorious musicals helmed by the Lai Roy family or believes (erroneously) that school

Seventy years ago, a small band of dedicated young theatre enthusiasts left the Indian People’s Theatre Association and formed a new group, Bohurupee. Little did they imagine that they would

The paucity of local organizations sponsoring shows from outside Kolkata makes us greet any such new initiative enthusiastically. Knack Productions may feel disheartened by the low turnout for Akvarious Productions’

This is a tribute to theatre teachers on Teachers Day, looking at the new plays by two groups training young learners in the live form that best inculcates teamwork and

“Dance theatre” is a term much abused, to label any relatively large-scale dance spectacle. In fact, it is pretty obvious that all dance performances, even short and solo, are by

Courtroom drama can succeed only on the bedrock of perfect plausibility – unless, of course, the director consciously applies a stylized approach right through, say, for satirical objectives. Two perennial

We can quote from Shakespeare, but have no clue about Shakuntalā, the pinnacle of Sanskrit literature. That is the shame that the white man’s burden has left us with, even