NABC 2010: “Ekti Gnaye Thaki”

On the Occasion of NABC2010
Kallol of NJ presents

“EKTI GNAYE THAKI”
(We Live in a Village)

A Play by Sudipta Bhawmik

Cast: Abhijit Neogy, Sankar Ghoshal, Lilabati Majumdar, Indranil Mukherjee, Aparajita Das, Raja Roy, Debiprosad Palit
Music: Samya Goswami
Lights: Subhodev Das, Chandan Sen

Synopsis: “Ekti Gnaye Thaki” is the story of Ranjana and her brother, Rajat, reuniting after fourteen years. Rajat immigrates to the US with his family after Ranjana sponsors their green cards. The reunion is marked by its usual excitement followed by nostalgia for their hometown Gobindapur they both left behind. Rajat becomes a critical link for Ranjana to relive her past, while Ranjana helps him come to terms with his decision to abandon his familiar world in Gobindapur. Ranjana is also ill and Rajat’s presence offers a long-awaited emollient. As the brother and the sister often slip into the past, the rest of the characters are excited at the prospects of their future in the US, especially Rajat’s son, Rajib. Life gradually settles down and a quotidian harmony evolves. Yet from the beginning, the play occasionally and quite subliminally alludes to an underlying subplot that threatens the apparent calm between the two families. Eventually, through a set of related incidents, the undisclosed piece – a rather disconcerting one – is revealed. The disclosure tears apart the growing assurance of the families’ suburban life, and more importantly, sets in motion a drift into the past that interrogates those relationships that were deemed normal. Though this interrogation
fractures a happy picture, however, it is through this fracture, we areinvited to revisit something more important – the attachment betweenhuman beings. The play above all, irrespective of its specificities of time and place, is a commentary on what it means to be a human being in relation to those we hold dear in our lives.

Hall A – Banga Mancha, Atlantic City Convention Center
6.00pm, Saturday, July 10, 2010

Bengali Theater in North America : My First Experience

Since 1989 I have been involved with Bangla Theater in USA. Over the years I have worked with several groups, several associations and have been involved with several theater productions. My theater journey in this country started with the theater group Sansaptak with their production “Sabda Moho Bandhane”. The play was directed by Sakti Sengupta.  Being involved with theater since my childhood, I was a bit skeptic about the theater scenario in USA when I first arrived in this country.  But my first experience was not only a pleasant surprise but an extremely enjoyable one.  All the stereo typical notions of expatriate Bengali theater were shattered with that production.  Sakti-da took us through a complete production development process of a new play. The script was developed based on Shirshendu Mukherjee’s short stories, Sunil Ganguly and Sakti Chattopadhyay’s poems.  It was not a simple narrative, but rather a complex collage of character’s, their relationships, their dreams and disillusionment. Continue reading