| "Daibaddha" by Sayak, Kolkata |
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Friday, 23 May 2008, 7:30pm - 9:50pm |
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The Ranga Shankara schedule page is available here
The production of Daibaddha in 1991 marked a watershed moment in the Bengali group theatre, inasmuch that this was the first play that really drew out a large section of the Bengali audience that till then considered the group theatre as the realm of the intelligentsia. Meghnad Bhattacharya, with his passionate portrayal of Gagan, the lorry driver, became a household name in Kolkata, an honour that very few activists of the group theatre have achieved for their work in the theatre.
It was merely a tryst with destiny for Gagan, when about 18 years ago he came across Sita, insulted and tormented in her well-to-do groom’s house, desperately trying to commit suicide with her infant in her arms. In course of time, these uneven lives get emotionally locked with each other. However, the various complex rules of society, framed from the beginning of human history that have gradually made man immune to the finer aspects of life, step in now. The rigidities of social order that make us regard any aberration from established conventions with suspicion and aversion, cause Gagan, Sita and Jhinuk, to find themselves confronted by an antagonistic society that refuses to accept them as a family like any other. Uncomfortable questions are raised about the so-called unnatural alliance of the trio, who are made to suffer deep humiliation and are finally alienated from society’s mainstream. Yet, when the victims challenge the rusted tenets of society, which itself is crumbling, the veteran guardians of social decorum fail to provide any satisfactory answer. A new emotion of love and trust then is then born out of the apparently moribund family structure to fill the sudden void that is created in the family. |
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Location: Ranga Shankara |