Debasish Ray, who prefers to be known only by his first name, no doubt self-effacingly conscious of its commonness in Bengali nomenclature, has become the most prolific Bengali dramatist-director, sought
The five-day annual Intimate Theatre Festival hosted by and at Proscenium’s Art Centre produced some intriguing political commentary. Of the two longer works, about an hour each, Spandan People’s Theatre’s
Like so many troupes, Primetime Theatre Company faced total shutdown of activities during the pandemic years but coped by rehearsing monologues, which allow artists near-social isolation. Director Lillete Dubey found
Anya Theatre’s twin post-pandemic productions on our freedom fight have firmly established Debasish Ray as Bengali theatre’s newest dramatist-director to watch out for. He has worked with his own group,
The continuous tradition of Bengali public (not private) and commercial (not amateur) theatre began on 7 December 1872 with the staging of Nil-darpan by the National Theatre. To celebrate its
Another long-lived troupe celebrates its golden jubilee this year, more praiseworthy because smaller groups do not have the resources that established larger names can command, making it extremely difficult for
Anya Theatre has of late invited guest directors for its new productions: Debasish Ray, and now Arindam Mukherjee’s Topi. Mukherjee first wrote Topi in the late 1990s as a one-act,
With RRR now the highest form of entertainment, Raja Rammohun Roy’s sestercentennial came and went without the fanfare worthy of such a yugāvatār—not surprising, perhaps, in these historically revisionist times.
I went to Padatik not expecting much—the director of Kāgaz ke Gubbāre, Anubha Fatehpuria, had informed me that it comprised dramatized readings, as the first episode of their new series
It has been a long wait—for productions from the metros to visit Kolkata again. We thank Sanskriti Sagar for recommencing their well-curated invitations to acclaimed plays with Tansen, the debut
A partnership among the U S Consulate General, Theater Alliance (Washington, DC), Contact Base (Kolkata) and twenty participants from the U S, India, Bangladesh and Nepal facilitated a residency workshop
With students back physically in school, can young people’s theatre stay locked down? Two Bengali groups feature their welcome-back workshop-driven plays as part of a double bill, both directed by
