Under the commitment and direction of Sima Mukhopadhyay, Rangroop continues to place women at the centre of its plays, as exemplified by its latest, Garal. Based on the short story by Sayantani Putatunda, the production has received a taut dramatization from Mainak Sengupta, and belongs to an increasing body of recent
Atelier’s Campus Theatre festival notches up its 12th season, and visited Kolkata again last weekend with its curation of the best of Delhi’s college productions. How we wish that someone in our city copied Atelier’s praiseworthy concept so as to showcase student theatre here, normally restricted to the inter-college festival
Aneek’s annual Ganga Jamuna Natya Utsab has become the best platform to view a range of Bangladeshi theatre. This year, most of the seven productions interpreted landmarks from various literatures. The fact that lesser-known troupes presented these generally well – I saw four from Dhaka – demonstrated the depth of
Because the Minerva festival receives generous public funding, it attracts more stringent scrutiny. Its attempt to replicate the failed model of the National School of Drama Mahotsav stupefies. Viewers had to choose between three productions for every time slot, reducing the 25-show extravaganza to 8 in practice. Scheduling daily matinees
Centre Stage Creations’ presentation of The Gathered Leaves by Ruchika Theatre Group (New Delhi) warmed the hearts of the audience, but other reasons add to our appreciation of it. Director Feisal Alkazi likes to pick acclaimed contemporary plays in English from abroad – as in his last visit here –
Unconventional performance allows artists to explore subjects in ways that mainstream theatre often cannot. The British Council’s support of intercultural collaboration exposes local performers and viewers to new approaches through the work of British directors here. Performing Journeys, by the Khasi-Welsh Collective under Lisa Lewis’s direction, threw a mesmeric aura
We have another Bengali adaptation of world-famous French drama, this time Minerva Repertory Theatre’s Nāsikā Purān, based on Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), the very last flourish of European high Romanticism. Ashok Mukhopadhyay undertook the arduous task of adapting this long historical play in rhyming couplets, succeeding for the
Seldom does theatre risk dialogue-driven drama nowadays, so bitten has it become by a misperceived need for onstage action. Therefore, Kolkata Praxis’s Bengali adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s Art stands out immediately from run-of-the-mill fare, and justifiably earned plaudits and popularity. A large part of the credit should go to Ipsita
Rangakarmee’s Binodini Keya Mancha continues as an alternative venue, hosting intimate theatre regularly. Let’s look at some recent short plays there. Antarmukh’s Mrityu Upatyakā in Bengali shocks spectators with its opening scene of a would-be suicide halted by the dramatist-director Soumitra Basu intervening to press the pause button. Flashback then
Happily, an established festival from outside Kolkata organized an offshoot here, which bodes well for us, starved of national content. We hope Jairangam Fringes makes it an annual sojourn because, based on their selection this time, they take the job of curating seriously, unlike many local festivals. Little Thespian, the
Fifty years ago, when The Amateurs and The Oskars ruled Calcutta’s English theatre, a band of school-leavers formed The Red Curtain, which staged critically acclaimed productions in the 1970s. Now the oldest extant English group, it celebrated its golden jubilee with a three-day festival. Since theatre history privileges original drama,
Bengali-American groups have taken to serious themes for some time now, leaving behind the light entertainment and Tagoreana that form the staple of their theatre as a hobby. Two examples flew down to recent festivals: Apaharan by ECTA from New Jersey at Anik’s Ganga-Jamuna Festival, and Bishanna Bārud by Ebang
