Medical emergencies count among the great unpredictables in life, though one can predict with absolute accuracy that they will strike every one of us at some time or the other. Two plays deal with this certainty as their subject. Unprecedentedly, Kalyani Mukhosh has simultaneous English and Bengali versions of their
The inner workings of the cinematic medium and its relationship with the human material that it uses as its subject create two new films-within-plays. Both the Bengali groups, Nandipat and Ensemble, revisit performance processes that have engaged them in the past. Nandipat’s Prokash Bhattacharya, who actively helps theatre personnel in
Two 19th-century classics of social realism return to the Bengali stage – one comic, the other tragic; one from our own hometown, the other from distant Norway. Theatre historians credit both with the beginnings of modern drama in their respective languages. Nat-ranga revives Dinabandhu Mitra’s Sadhabār Ekādashi (1866, premiered by
Formed 20 years after its mother group Kathik went defunct, Bachhar Kuri Pare has already staged two productions, both dramatized by the founders Arijit Biswas and Prithunandan Ghose from World War II tragic fiction. The first, Ebang Andhakār, resurrects an obscure Czech novel, Jan Otcenasek’s Romeo, Juliet and Darkness, where
Intimate Theatre Evenings, at Padatik Little Theatre, began this month with three varied productions, each experimental but none completely successful. Most groups still approach such small spaces like any standard stage, not exploiting either the proximity of the audience or the flexibility of seating arrangement that they allow. As a
Pirandello has become the flavour of this year in Bengali theatre, with a biodrama as well as two plays running concurrently. Sayak’s Bhālo Lok rediscovers the forgotten All for the Best, which he wrote in 1920, the year before his sensational Six Characters in Search of an Author. As such,
Vengeance appears to preoccupy Debasish Ray, at least on the basis of the new productions he has directed for Anya Theatre and his own group Theatre Platform. He wrote Anya Theatre’s comic Revenge Factory himself, while he dramatized Theatre Platform’s noir Ekti Sahaj Khuner Galpa from Pracheta Gupta’s short story.
Chidakash Kalalaya pursues prodigiously its unique project of resurrecting Sanskrit forms, directed by Piyal Bhattacharya. After bhanika last year, it turned to another uparupaka or minor genre, the ramakrida, earlier this year, and creatively rebirthed it under the title Samvatsar Kathā, since treatises define ramakrida as a depiction of the
Since my code of conduct during the run-up to elections forbade comment – good or bad – on the artistic work of parliamentary candidates, I refrained from reviewing Sansriti’s Chānd Manasār Kissā, which I had seen some time back. Today’s dawn making things clear, frees me to write on its
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman ranks very high among essential plays of the 20th century. In one end-of-the-millennium poll, critics placed it at the top, alongside Waiting for Godot. I believe that it carries even more importance now in India than it did exactly 70 years ago, because in
The full-length Bengali productions invited to Bohurupee’s annual Natyotsab provided object lessons in how not to and what not to adapt. Sayangsandhya’s Chandragupta credits D. L. Roy and G. P. Deshpande as authors, and refers to history three times in its directorial note. Simple disclaimer first: do not get misled
Chandan Sen, the dramatist, shows concern in his new plays about growing fascistic trends. He turns to 20th-century history in Europe and Africa to demonstrate its vicious effects on humanity, hopefully warning Indians not to get lured into its clutches. In Pirandello o Puppeteer, produced by Aneek, he presents the
