THE GATHERED LEAVES
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
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PERFORMING JOURNEYS | SHASITA SHARIR
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
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SHAKESPEARE ON THE CALCUTTA STAGE: A CHECKLIST
A Jadavpur University Department of English research project to catalogue productions of Shakespeare in Calcutta in all languages from the beginnings to 1999, published as Shakespeare on the Calcutta Stage:
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NASIKA PURAN
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
ART
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
MRITYU UPATYAKA | YES | MEGHDUTAM
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
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VRITRAJ | DHABA
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,
AN EVENING WITH A MR TAGORE | WAIT UNTIL DARK | SIX DEAD QUEENS AND AN INFLATABLE HENRY
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
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APAHARAN | BISHANNA BARUD
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
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PHALSI CHARAR UPAKHYAN | PAHLA SATYAGRAHI
Although Nandikar’s 36th National Festival noticed a significant depletion in entries from outside Kolkata, the few new productions displayed some merit, besides Parvathy Baul’s electrifying 90-minute nonstop solo singing in
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RAT KATO HOLO | CUMULO-NIMBUS | SESH SRINGA
Bengali theatre’s deep-seated leftist politics resurfaces with uneven results in three productions from outside the city. Bandel Arohi’s Rāt Kato Holo leaves the strongest impact precisely because it treats the
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THE DICE OF DESIRE | GUL
Two all-women productions brought to our attention once again the discrimination faced by Indian womankind in epic literature and modern society. Both traversed well-trodden ground in contemporary theatre, therefore one
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