Sengupta at the workshop. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, March 14: A theatre workshop on AIDS awareness was inaugurated by thespian Rudraprasad Sengupta at Alipurduar Junction Railway Institute here today.

The meet is part of the preparations for the Red Ribbon Express, an AIDS awareness and treatment project on rails, that arrives here on Monday. Six theatre groups from across Bengal will join the experts on board and go to different places to spread awareness.

The Red Ribbon Express, a brainchild of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and executed by the National AIDS Control Organisation, in collaboration with the railway ministry, will stop in Bengal for the first time on March 17. It will come from Assam and halt in Alipurduar for two days.

The train, comprising seven bogies with doctors, counsellors and health workers, started off from Delhi on December 1 and has been touring the country since.

“Out of 30 troupes from across the state, seven have been shortlisted for the workshop. The number will finally be brought down to six on March 17 when the workshop ends,” said N.K. Pal, the deputy director of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan in Jalpaiguri.

Two groups from Alipurduar and one each from Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, Siliguri and Jalpaiguri have so far made it to the list.

The troupes, with eight members each, will perform two plays, Nihshabdota Bhangbe Ki Kore by Tripurari Sharma and Alok Nandan’s Rog O Manush.

“The troupes have vital roles to play in the awareness campaign, which will be carried out in seven places of the state till March 31,” said Pal. The sangathan, in association with the Union sports and youth affairs ministry, is organising the plays.

According to Pal, the train will carry 48 bicycles — one for each member of the troupes. “From each station, the members will travel to villages within a 5km radius and perform the plays. Each group must cover four villages every day,” he said.

A couple of buses will also be at hand for the troupes to visit remote areas.

Pal said the workshop has begun under the tutelage of Sengupta, and Biswajit Biswas who comes from National School of Drama in Delhi.

“We will train the troupes till March 17, trying to bring out their best. Experts are also coming from Delhi to attend the workshop,” said the deputy director of the Sangathan

Jalpaiguri district will witness 96 performances, including 48 in the Alipurduar subdivision. A drive has already been carried out in villages to bring people to the AIDS awareness campaign, the Sangathan official said.