The Script, Edition 6 - June 2011

The sun's barely out, just keeps raining all day long....no wait, that's Toronto weather. But being June, the Bombay weather is sure to get that way pretty soon. Weather reports notwithstanding, this month promises to be a good month for theatre lovers. Summertime for Children shows will continue at the Prithvi and a brand new venue - Bhavan's Theatre at Chowpatty. This month sees the returns of 2 favourites that have never quite done enough performances - High-Pot-In-Use-Tri-Angle's 'Me Grandad 'ad an Elephant' and Harami Theatre's hilarious and hard hitting 'Butter and Mashed Banana', which won Outstanding play at Thespo 7 in 2005. Also this month, Sunil Shanbag finally shows Bombay his new play 'Stories in a Song'. So grab your tickets soon!!

On the QTP Front, we're gearing up for shows of our brand new comedy, Nostalgia Brand Chewing Gum at the Comedy Store on the 22nd of June and more shows in July too. Also prepartions are in full swing for India's premier youth theatre festival - Thespo 13 Orientation Meetings will be held in July. And not to forget, Great Texts is on the 27th of June!!!! We hope to see you at these events!!!

Last month's quiz resulted in our best percentage of right answers. Is stage left the left of the stage as seen from the actors point of view or the audience point of view? 78% guessed correctly - 'The Actor'. Very very nice!

Theatre in India lost a giant in May - Badal Sircar. We pay homage to him in this issue.

We also have another theme for the issue - Peter Pan; he (or she) seems everywhere!

Here's what you can look forward to this month:

Trivia Time: Badal Sircar
Great Text: Are you Shaw you don't want to read with us?
Nostalgia Brand Chewing Gum: Back with more shows!
Thespo 13: It's almost here!!
Friends of Thespo: We need your support!
Point of View: Gurleen Judge reviews Akvarious' 'Peter Pan'.
4 Corners: Shruti Sridharan recounts her experience of Peter Pan in Chicago.
Dolly Thakore's 'Life in Theatre': Dolly Thakore remembers Badal Sircar.
AK's Various Thoughts: MAY the force be with me.
Kashin Baba's Babblings: Living the dream sometimes causes nightmares.
Q's Countdown: Adult moments in Children's Theatre.
Up & Coming: Complete Schedule of what to watch in June.
Theatre Training: Children's Workshops and Kalaripayattu Workshop.
Other Theatre News: Details of International Clown Festival, Rang-e-Tamseel Theatre Festival  and A theatre broadcast of 'Frankenstein'.
Curtain Call: Badal Sircar on why he became a playwright.

Yours Sincerely,
On Behalf of Q Theatre Productions,

Himanshu.
Editor, The Script

Trivia Time - Badal Sircar

Badal Sircar (15 July 1925–13 May 2011) whose real name was 'Sudhindra Sarkar', was born in Calcutta, India.

He was most known for his anti-establishment plays during the Naxalite movement in the 1970s and taking theatre out of the proscenium and into public arena, when he founded his own theatre company, Shatabdi in 1976.

He wrote more than fifty plays of which Ebong Indrajit, Basi Khabar, and Saari Raat are well known literary pieces, a pioneering figure in street theatre as well as in experimental and contemporary Bengali theatre with his egalitarian "Third Theatre", he prolifically wrote scripts for his Aanganmanch (courtyard stage) performances, and remains one of the most translated Indian playwrights.

Though his early comedies were popular, it was his angst-ridden Ebong Indrajit (And Indrajit) that became a landmark play in Indian theatre.

While working as a town planner in India, England and Nigeria, he entered theatre as an actor, moved to direction, but soon started writing plays, starting with comedies.

He stayed for two years in London, here he was influenced by people like Joan Littlewood, Anthony Serchio, Schechner and Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski, this was make his body of future work distinct from other Bengali playwrights like Sombhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt.

Amongst these the influence of Richard Schechner, founder of the Performance Group, an experimental theater troupe, became more pronounced with establishment of his "Third Theatre", nearly two decades later.

He started his acting career in 1951, when acted in his own play, Bara Trishna, performed by Chakra, a theatre group.

Eventually still employed in Nigeria, he wrote his landmark play Ebong Indrajit (And Indrajit) in 1963, which was first published and performed in 1965 and catapulted him into instant fame, as it captured "the loneliness of post-Independence urban youth with dismaying accuracy".

He followed them with plays like Baaki Itihaash (1965), Pralap (1966), Tringsha Shatabdi (1966), Pagla Ghoda (1967), Shesh Naai (1969), all performed by Sombhu Mitra's Bohurupee group.

In 1967, he formed the "Shatabdi" theatre group, and the first production he directed was Ebang Indrajit in 1967, a play about four people - Amal, Bimal, Kamal and a loner Indrajit.

In the next five years of its existence the troupe performed several of his plays and had a profound impact on contemporary theatre, especially after 1969 when it started performing plays both indoors and outside amidst people, and evolved the angan manch and inspired by the direct communication techniques of Jatra rural theatre form, to eventually become his "Third Theatre", a protest against prevalent commercial theatre establishment.

Often performed in "found" spaces rather than rented theatre halls, without elaborate lighting, costumes or make-up, where audience was no longer a passive, rather became participatory, it added a new realism to contemporary dramaturgy, retaining thematic sophistication of social committed theatre all the while, and thus started a new wave of experimental theatre in Indian theatre.

In 1976, his group "Satabdi", started performing at Surendranath Park (then Curzon Park) Kolkata on weekends, these open-air and free performances lead to his troupe travelling to nearby villages on other weekends, where it employed minimal props and improvised dialogues to involve audience further into the performance.

Though he continued to hold his job till 1975, as a playwright he rose to prominence in the 1970s and was one of the leading figures in the revival of street theatre in Bengal.

His plays reflected the atrocities that prevailed in the society, the decayed hierarchical system and were socially enlightening. He is a proponent of the "Third theatre" movement that stood ideologically against the state.

Third theatre involved street plays, with actors being attired no differently than the audience. Also the formal bindings of the proscenium theatre was given up. Sarkar's "Bhoma" is an example of a third theatre play, set as always, in an urban background.

Starting with Sagina Mahato, which marked his advent into arena stage, his subsequent plays, Michhil (Juloos), Bhoma, Basi Khobor, Spartacus based on Howard Fast's historical novel by the same name, were performed in parks, street corners and remote villages with the audience sitting all around.

Sircar directed his last play in 2003, and after that his movements were restricted after an road accident, but even many years later in 2011, he continued performing at play readings and writing new works like adapting, William Shakespeare's Macbeth, two stories by Graham Greene and a novel, History of Love.

Sarkar was diagnosed with colon cancer in April 2011. He died on 13th May at Kolkata at the age of 85.

Sarkar was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1972, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship- Ratna Sadsya, the highest honour in the performing arts by Govt. of India, in 1997, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

The "Tendulkar Mahotsav" held at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Pune in October 2005, organised by director Amol Palekar to honour playwright Vijay Tendular, was inaugurated with the release of a DVD and a book on the life of Badal Sircar.

In July 2009, to mark his 85th birthday, a five-day long festival titled Badal Utsava as tribute to him was organized by several noted theatre directors. He was offered the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2010, which he declined, stating that he is already a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, which is the biggest recognition for a writer.

Film director Mira Nair in an interview mentioned, "For me, Kolkata was a formative city while growing up.... I learned to play cricket in Kolkata, but more than anything, I learned to read Badal Sircar and watch plays written by him for street theatre."

To Kannada director and playwright, Girish Karnad, Sircar’s play Ebong Indrajit taught him fluidity between scenes.

As per theatre director-playwright Satyadev Dubey, "In every play I’ve written and in every situation created, Indrajit dominates."

To Actor-director Amol Palekar, "Badalda opened up new ways of expression."

Great Text Reading - Come read a play with us!

On the last Monday of every month people meet in Q's drawing room to read a play they may have heard of but not necessarily have read. Writer's come to see how the greats wrote, actors come to play multiple parts and theatre lovers come because it keeps them in touch with the art form. It is open all and everyone takes turns in playing characters from the play. Discussions ensue after over tea and biscuits.

In the month of May, we continued with the George Bernard Shaw theme and read 'Mrs. Warren's Profession' - about a middile aged woman whose Cambridge-educated daughter, Vivie, is horrified to discover that her mother's fortume was made managing high-class brothels.

Reactions to the play were strong. The humour in the text that caught many of us chuckling out loud was always tinged with satire. Many remarked at the powerful roles the two women characters had, and also how the men were the objects of ridicule. What was even more surprising was no where was the word "brother" or "prostitute" or "whore" or even any substitute word ever used. Yet through the clever crafting of the dialogue none of the readers were left in doubt as to what exactly Mrs. Warren's profession was.

The play was a fun contrast to Candida of April. And has primed us perfectly to end the "Shaw season".

In June, we round it up by reading 'Man and Superman' - a romantic comedy which tells the story of two rivals: John Tanner, a wealthy, politically-minded intellectual who values his freedom, and Ann Whitefield, a charming, scheming hypocritical young woman who wants Tanner as a husband. Once Tanner realizes that Miss Whitefield is hunting for a spouse (and that he is the only target), he attempts to flee from her, only to find out that his attraction to Ann is too overwhelming to escape.

Written in 1903 as a four act drama, responding to those who had questioned Shaw as to why he had never written a play based on the Don Juan theme. The play opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905 without the performance of the 3rd Act. A part of the act, Don Juan in Hell (Act 3, Scene 2), was performed when the drama was staged on June 4, 1907 at the Royal Court. The play was not produced in its entirety until 1915 by the Travelling Repertory Company at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.

Although the play can be performed as a light comedy of manners Shaw intended the drama to be something much deeper, as suggested by the title. This title comes from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical ideas about the "Übermensch" ("Superman"). The plot centers on John Tanner, author of "The Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion," which is published with the play as a 58-page appendix. Tanner is a confirmed bachelor despite the pursuits of Ann Whitefield and her persistent efforts to make him marry her. Ann is referred to as "the Life Force" and represents Shaw's view that in every culture, it is the women who force the men to marry them rather than the men who take the initiative.

So come on the 27th of June at 7:30pm at 18 Anukool, Sq. Ldr. Harminder Singh Marg, 7 Bungalows. Next to Daljit Gym. All are welcome. If you need directions call Varrun on 26392688 or 9930666332.

Nostalgia Brand Chewing Gum - Back with more shows!!

NOSTALGIA BRAND CHEWING GUM

Wednesday, 22^nd June at 7:30pm at The Comedy Store
&
Saturday, 2^nd July & Sunday, 3^rd July at 7pm at NCPA Godrej

"...a must-watch"
"...stimulating..."
"...tastefully designed set."
"The humour is well-timed and the attempt to engage with the audience by weaving their responses into the performance is both bold and well executed. A witty take on desire, disappointment and envy, NBCG will keep you entertained."

- MumbaiTheatreGuide.com


Warm up those jaws! Not for chewing but for laughing because we are back with more shows of our brand new comedy!!!

If you thought Tariq Vasudeva was hilarious in Project S.t.r.i.p., then you ain't seen nothing yet.
He is back in this comedy about trying not to ‘break down’ after ‘breaking up’!

Directed by Vivek Madan, Tariq is joined on stage by Diksha Basu (her last shows before she heads of to pursue her PHD), new heart throb Karan Pandit and our very own Greek goddess Kallirroi Tziafetta.

The play is about Adil, Natasha, Bob and Kara. Sometime friend or lover or colleague or roommate. Not always mutually exclusive. When it all comes together one evening, mixed with copious amounts of memories - it tastes pretty funny!

The play opened in March at Prithvi and then had a successful tour of Bangalore. Now it's back for South Mumbai audiences to enjoy. So come on down to Comedy Store or NCPA and check out which one of the four 'lovers' is most like you!

For tickets and more information call 26392688 or email: qtheatreproductions@gmail.com

Thespo 13 - We're Coming soon!!

Founded in 1999 by Theatre Group Bombay (TG), India’s oldest English language theatre group, Thespo has been created to give young performers (under the age of 25) an opportunity to hone their talents, in the simulated environment of professional theatre. Giving teams the best infrastructure available, so that they can produce the best work possible. Guidance in terms of technical and dramatic knowledge is also provided to the teams.

From the humble beginnings of a one-act play festival, the movement has grown into a round the year activity - with Thespo at Prithvi happening on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of every month and an Annual National Festival organised every December.

Thespo 13 - Get Lucky!

Thespo 13 will run from 13 December to 18 December 2011 at Prithvi & NCPA.

We have begun taking baby steps to the next edition of Thespo and if you think you can contribute and make a difference to the first teenage year of Thespo in any way and would like to volunteer do write to us at thespo13@thespo.org or call on +91 9867562859

Also Thespo 13 Orientation Meeting will be held in a city near you in July. Look out for more details soon!!

How you can get involved:

* Stage a Play: Any play on any topic. Must be at least 1 hour long.
* Short performances in a non-regular space are held before every show. (Includes mime, short plays, poetry reading, monologues, etc.)
* Attend a Workshop: Workshops each month conducted by eminent theatre veterans on a variety of topics.
* Design A Poster: Poster designing competition, where participants design posters for the short listed plays, which will be exhibited at the festival.
* Write an Article: Submitting an article on theatre for the festival magazine.
* Join Team Thespo: Design posters, sets, interior décor, work in PR, marketing, backstage, lighting, interact with theatre professionals, organize performances and a whole lot more.

Further details of the festival will be publicised as soon as they are confirmed on our Facebook Group- 'Thespo' and on www.thespo.org

For an overview of last year's festival, watch the video here.

Friends of Thespo

Become a Friend of Thespo TODAY!

Come be a part of a community of Thespo-lovers.

The purpose of Friends of Thespo is to build a network with Thespo lovers. Allow us to keep track of those that have moved on past the 25 year old barrier, and to keep a connection going. Allowing ex-Thespoans to ensure that the assembly line of theatre lovers continues.

The features of Friends of Thespo is relatively simple:

For a fee of a minimum of Rs. 2,000/- we will provide the following:

· A Free Friends of Thespo Tshirt

· Two Free Tickets to any performance during Thespo 13.

· Priority booking with regards to tickets for shows.

· A Free Thespo 13 Magazine.

All you need to do, is email us on fot@thespo.org saying that you are interested, and send us a cheque in the name of “Theatre Group – Play Thespo” and we will provide you with a FoT registration number, which you can quote when booking or collecting you tickets.



So don't delay...become a FOT today!

Point of View - Gurleen Judge reviews Akvarious' 'Peter Pan'

Peter Pan is a story of a mischievous young boy who spends his never-ending childhood in a magical place called, Neverland, captaining the Lost Boys, made up of children who were lost as infants and remained unclaimed. Neverland is populated with Fairies, Mermaids, Red Indian and of course, the evil Pirates. 

After an unexpected meeting with the Darling children, Peter brings Wendy and her brothers back to Neverland. They embark on a journey full of adventures together culminating in the clash with Peter’s nemesis Captain Hook and his fellow pirates. 

This version directed by Hidayat Sami has both it's moments of magic and disappointment, but more than anything else one is left unmoved by the experience.

It is not unusual for a girl to play Peter, and Faezeh Jalali infuses her Pan with impeccable boyish enthusiasm and agility. Her rope mallakhamb expertise makes for an interesting addition, which she she carries out with reasonable ease, but unfortunately it does not really elevate the scenes as much as would be hoped. Preetika Chawla is a warm and endearing Wendy, holding her own as a young mother to the Lost Boys. The Lost Boys themselves are an energetic ensemble and do well in supporting Peter and Wendy. In contrast though, Kumud Mishra’s interpretation of ‘Captain Hook’ appears contrived full of unconvincing twitches and guffaws, particularly in the scene where he threatens to kills the three Darling children whom he has just captured. Moreover, as Mr. Darling he lacks the requisite child-like sweetness. The often unclear speech of the actors was a major let down making us miss the important bits of information in this relatively verbose play. An departure from the original, is when the ticking crocodile and not the mermaid rescue the injured Peter & Wendy from the Mermaid’s Lagoon. The crocodile, in his only appearance, looked more like a stuffed toy and made it hard to believe that the evil Captain Hook was so afraid of him. 

The most powerful moment in the play is the flight of the Darling children with Peter Pan to Neverland, a scene that is sure to send shivers down your spine. While the space was used effectively and quite cleverly, the real magic of the play lies in Arghya Lahiri's light design. The effects used to create ripples in the pond and also sailing away Jolly Roger are beautifully executed.

Inspite of all the stagecraft and wizardry there is something lacking in this production. The moments of loss or delicate humanity that is part of the imaginative fabric of this particular story. Although, the children in the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves, the adult themes in the play have not been given enough emphasis.The elements of escapism, childishness, transience, immorality and heartbreak are not fully explored. As a result of a superficial understanding of the text, one doesn't connect with any of the characters and even a potentially powerful moment like clapping our hands and shouting “I believe in fairies” fails to make one feel for little Tinkerbell. Amidst all the playfulness, the essence of Peter Pan and his story is lost. The adaption seems too simplistic and unfortunately does not quite capture the poignant charm of ‘the boy who would not grow up’.

4 Corners - Shruti Sridharan reviews the international production of 'Peter Pan'

He was my first Super Hero. Apologies to all Superman, Spiderman and Batman fans, but Peter Pan could not only fly himself, he could teach others to fly too! And he was a boy, and a cute one at that (at least in my imagination). And you didn’t really have to be in life threatening distress for him to pay you a visit. Sigh! The number of nights I waited for him to fly in through my window and teach me to fly…

While on a trip to the US of A with the parents, I found myself in Chicago two days after the opening of Peter Pan by Threesixty° Theatre. Uncannily, this was same week as the opening of our very own Akvarious’ production of it. I simply had to watch it. So, the $50 ticket notwithstanding, I dragged Mother dearest along to watch my childhood crush on stage.

Peter, the boy who refuses to grow up; guardian of the Lost Boys; arch enemy of Captain Hook; is a young boy of uncertain age who flies in through the window of the nursery of the Darling household one night and charms his way into the minds of the young children, Wendy, Michael and John. Soon, he teaches them fly and they take off on a magical journey. They fly over London, they fly over the countryside, meadows, mountains, and finally the ocean before finally landing in Neverland, home of the Lost Boys – the boys who fell out of their prams and were never claimed and hence have never really experienced the love of a mother. Peter, in all his good intentions has brought Wendy there to be their Mother. Will Wendy accept? Why does Captain Hook want to kidnap Wendy? Will Peter be able to save her? Do the Darling children ever go back home?

Yes, yes, we all know the story already… But actually seeing it in action is a whole different thing. The actors, hitched on to harnesses actually fly through the night sky, beautifully projected onto the marquee walls…

Oh wait, I need to mention here that the theatre, is actually a specially constructed marquee tent, with the stage in the centre and the audience seated on all four sides. The very top of the marquee housed a lot of techie stuff that the likes of Q, Arghya and Sananda would have had orgasms over, apart from one of those perches that trapeze artist use, for the actors to jump off of for their entries.

When they weren’t flying in from up above, the actors used the beautifully concealed trapdoors on the stage itself to make their entries. At certain places, the trapdoor would revolve to become various things like the beds in the nursery, the cavernous roots of a tree in Neverland, the staircase into the nursery from the floor below.

If these haven’t already taken your breath away (or if you are a guy) you will surely love the mermaids who creep and crawl onto the stage and shimmy ever so gracefully up and down a rope—yes, Mallakhamb it is—trying to lure Peter into their world. And then there is the Native American princess, Tiger Lily, and her highly suggestive (read pelvic thrusts) gymnastics.

Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a children’s play? Yes, and they even have puppets to prove that. Nana the dog, the Neverbird, the croc with a clock in his belly, are all very beautifully designed puppets, deftly handled by puppeteers. Nana, in particular is such a realistic string puppet handled so well by Joshua Holden, the lead puppeteer, that in a few minutes one begins to wonder how the family deals with all the fur and the drool generated by such a big dog! The crocodile on the other hand is manned by two puppeteers sitting inside its head and stomach, again clearly visible but easily ignored as you gasp in awe at the crocodile itself.

Before this begins sounding like fan mail, I must talk about Act Two. As exciting as the first half is with all the gymnastic and surprising entries and ‘wow’ inspiring video projections, the second half starts getting a little tedious. This is when you begin noticing that though the stage is round, the actors tend to orient themselves towards a particular aisle way more than the others. And having bought my tickets in the last minute, I ended up being faced by Captain Hook’s (Jonathan Hyde) back for most part of his scenes. Add to this the slight British accent and the intermittent loss of voice projection, and I missed quite a bit of his and other actors’ lines.

This is also when you realise that the production kinda takes for granted that the audience already knows the story and so either overlooks, or rushes through quite a few details; like why the crocodile has a clock in his stomach, or what the heck Tiger Lily is doing there and why she keeps running on and off stage, thus effectively reducing them to mere gimmicks.

The Lost Boys, played by what they call the ‘American cast’, were a bit grating. There is always a very delicate line between ‘acting’ and ‘acting like’. Having said that, it is never easy for a grown man to play a child’s part. But when the aforesaid line is crossed in such a role, it gets particularly disturbing for the watcher.

Special mentions: Emily Yetter for her wonderfully bratty portrayal of Tinker Bell; Evelyn Hoskins (Wendy) for the beautifully executed transition from the exuberant little girl into a responsible mother; Ciaran Joyce (Peter Pan) – my childhood dream come true – good looking, light-footed and high-spirited, he is truly a joy to watch; The audience for the moment we brought Tinker Bell to life by proclaiming out loud that ‘We believe in Fairies!’

The play ends happily and hopefully as does the story. Peter, the boy who never grows up comes back through the window of Darling nursery years later only to find that his Wendy is much older now, and she has a daughter of her own. Disheartened, he lets out a sob when Wendy’s daughter, Jane wakes up and asks him the same question her mother did years ago, “Boy, why are you crying?”  And warm and fuzzy feeling inside you comes right back.

Dolly Thakore's 'Life in the Theatre'

For me Calcutta has always been Badal Sircar. And my visits to that city were never complete without my attempting to contact Badalda…a feat I achieved only once and that too at an art gallery.

As I begin to cast my mind back to Badalda, it is 1973 or so. I had recently arrived in Mumbai and got immersed in all theatre activity. I was at an age when theatre workshops were a rarity and a must. We were all Marxists at heart.

In South Bombay, at that time, the USIS, Max Mueller Bhavan, and the NCPA were the only venues for theatre workshops – before the advent of the Experimental or Tata theatre.And within a space of one year we were attending workshops by Richard Schechner and Badal Sircar.

But it was Badal Sircar’s workshop that was the most unconventional. And it gave us such a high. I now began to understand the meaning of ‘third theatre’. No more was the stress on speaking the Queen’s English and enunciating and stage sets and props and costumes. It was all about confidence building and trust among fellow actors.

My fellow participants were Rohini and Jaydev Hatangandy, Bhakti Barve, Chitra and Amol Palekar amongst others. And within half an hour, spurred on by a very unassuming but enthusiastic Badalda, we were shedding all inhibitions with our bodies and movement and phobias of touching and heights. The energy was so high it could have propelled an airplane! Each of us became a propeller, a chugging wheel or a pulley or a grounding piston. And it was an airplane or an engine or a motor car or an industrial machine we were building with our bodies and hand, leg, head movements and voice. It was the first time that I had participated in such a physical workshop….and this was theatre!!!! It enthralled us all.

At the end of the weekend session, I distinctly remember Chitra Palekar enthusing in her inimical style about all of us working on a play together, since each of us exuded so much physical energy and stamina….but it never came to pass.

The very mention of Badalda or a play of his being staged had us converging on the venue. A strong bond of Badalda supporters was established.

He wrote more than fifty plays -- of which Ebong Indrajit, Basi Khabar, Saari Raat, Pagla Ghoda, and Juloos are the few that I have seen performed by many professional and non professional groups… being popular at almost every youth theatre festival. And his technique is adapted by all Street theatre practitioners – the NGOs being its staunch supporters.

A fact I read recently was that Badal Sircar refused to accept the Padma Bhushan twice – once as recently as 2010. When asked why he had accepted the Padma Shri in 1972, he responded: he had accepted the honour in the hope that it would help him further the Third Theatre movement. But that did not happen.

Badal Sircar wrote his first serious play, Evam Indrajit, in 1963. But it was not till April 1985 that I got the opportunity to participate in a play written by him.

Theatre Group was celebrating its 40^th anniversary by giving an opportunity to first time directors from among its members. And one of its stalwarts Protap Roy chose to direct EVAM INDRAJIT -- translated by Girish Karnad -- with Vijay Crishna as the protagonist and many others at the beginning of their acting careers. The cast included Anmol Vellani (now of IFA) as the writer; Vikram Kapadia as Amol; Uday Chandra – Kamol; Ranjit Chowdhury – Vimol; Kavita Choudhury as Manasi; and I played Mausi (renamed Didi in this version). I may have had only fifteen lines, but one’s commitment to the problems the play tackled was overwhelming, and what I remember the most was my white cotton saree with a red Bengali border and worn in the most comfortable style with a bunch of keys tied at the end of the seedha-pallav saree..

I resurrected the 1985 Censor copy of Evam Indrajit from my personal collection and discovered how detailed and committed we were – replete with immaculate planning of rehearsal dates, costumes, et al. Needless to say we performed in a proscenium theatre!

And today the words of Badal Sircar delivered by Evam Indrajit ring true: “Age is afraid of joy, of happiness, It only wants comfort.”

Badalda lit a spark in every theatre practitioner’s heart and mind. And he will always be remembered -- like Shakespeare – for wanting theatre to reach the masses.