New Look

Aside

NY/NJ Bengali Blog now has a new look. After procrastinating for a while, I decided to upgrade my wordpress platform to version 3.3.1, all the way from 2.5.1 – a huge jump. During the upgrade process I had to face some hurdles, for which the site was not live for some time. Thanks for bearing with me. But the upgrade was worth it. Hope to keep adding content more frequently in the coming days.

“Banaprastha” : ECTA’s New Production

ECTA presents

BANAPRASTHA

A play by Sudipta Bhawmik
Directed by Indranil Mukherjee

A senior Bengali virologist returns to India, after retiring from his medical practice of 35 years, to find peace, tranquility and solace amongst his family and old friends. But soon he discovers that his nemesis has followed him and he has nowhere to hide.

Cast:

Gargi Mukherjee, Samya Goswami, Keka Sirkar, Kaninika Dutta, Sudipta Bhawmik, Subhodev Das, Indranil Mukherjee, Pradeep Ramdass, Kaushik Dutta, and Lilabati Majumdar

Music: Partha Sarathi Mukhopadhyay

Edison Valley Playhouse, 2196 Oak Tree Road, Edison, NJ

Tickets: $20.00

Contact: Email: bhawmik@gmail.com, indymukh@gmail.com

Phone: 732 241 7060

California Natyamela 2008 and Taconic Parkway


Recently we (ECTA) had the opportunity to stage our new play “Taconic Parkway” at the California Natyamela 2008 held at the Amador Theater in Pleasanton, CA. Last year when I was visiting California to see the staging of my play “Ron” by the local group ENAD, I met Pradosh Sarkar who invited me to participate at the 2008 Natyamela, their fourth year of the festival. Pradosh Sarkar, a playwright and director himself, is a key member of Sanskriti, the group that organizes the Natyamela. In the previous years they limited their invitation only to the local groups, but Pradosh told me that he wants to make an exception in 2008 by inviting us from New Jersey. And I had no option but to accept the offer when he also assured me that they would take care of the expenses. However, Pradosh reminded me that they have a time limitation and each play must be limited to an hour, give or take ten minutes. This was a challenge for me since the plays we had in our repertoire all exceeded this limit. But I thought that this may be a perfect opportunity to work on a new play that was brewing in my mind for some time. After I came back, I started to work on the script and soon developed a one act play named “Taconic Parkway” which perfectly fits the bill for the California Natyamela 2008. It had three characters, and was limited to an hour and ten minutes. Continue reading

ECTA Mini Theater Festival: Satyameva, Ashomoy, Taconic Parkway


After a long hiatus and constant requests from theater lovers, ECTA will be staging three plays on June 28th and 29th, 2008, at the Edison Valley Playhouse (EVP) in Edison, New Jersey.
On 28th June, Saturday, there will be an encore staging of “Satyameva” , a play by Sudipta Bhawmik, directed by Indranil Mukherjee; starring Sudipta Bhawmik and Pinaki Dutta.

On 29th June, Sunday, two plays will be staged. Theater Practitioners of Cleveland, OH will present an audio and video staging of “Ashomoy” a new play by Sudipta Bhawmik starring Saubhik Sengupta and Moushumi Sengupta.

This will be followed by “Taconic Parkway“, written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik, starring Indranil Mukherjee, Keka Sirkar and Pinaki Dutta. This play will premiere at the California Natyamela on June 7th. Continue reading