Past and future visited

Calcutta theatre’s obsession with early Bengali public theatre, particularly with Binodini Dasi, is showing signs of fatigue. Natyaranga’s Sei Ek Binodini takes off from this tedious premise and shifts the focus to the early-20th-century theatre in downtown Calcutta where Tarasundari steals all the thunder and a retired Binodini goes down memory lane. Surajit Banerjee, the playwright with experience in dealing with period dramas, works on speculations passed through generations to lift the veil on the final years of Binodini’s life.

The play starts in a contemporary rehearsal room where theatre plays second fiddle to the cinema and television industry. As the actor slotted to play Binodini fails to turn up, a mysterious woman (Anindita Banerjee) appears from nowhere and starts sharing surprising anecdotes about the late actor, especially on the latter’s role in supporting armed resistance against the British rule. This strikes a chord with the other actors in the room — the ones playing Tarasundari (Debopriya Bandyopadhyay), Kshetramani (Chalantika Gangopadhyay) and Mala (Kankana Basak) — and also the lead musician (Subir Sanyal). A twist comes when a local toughie (Surajit himself) enters and helps dissect the situation. Anindita, who also directs an otherwise subdued Sei Ek Binodini (picture, left), displays her amazing skills in handling the old-school acting style, while Debopriya brings a freshness to her multilingual portrayal. Gangopadhyay’s singing prowess has its moments. Dipankar Dey, the light designer, heightens the mood with a nuanced use of darkness.

Howrah-based Kathok Performing Repertoire has produced a full-length drama on Birsa Munda’s life — an unusual subject for a Bengali theatre group. Titled Ulgulan, the production comes at a time when the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Munda hero have created ripples among the tribals of the erstwhile Chhotanagpur region.

Scripted and directed by Kriti Majumder, the play draws from Mahasweta Devi’s novel, Aranyer Adhikar, which reintroduced the folklore figure as a prominent face of the anti-imperialist struggle. Majumder makes use of her actors’ physicality to create striking visuals. The scenes depicting guerrilla warfare are brilliantly executed. However, the Mundari linguistic registers are largely ignored and Santali modes and manners were mistakenly adopted, making Ulgulan an unsatisfying experience.

Khardah Dwisattik’s Project Bhalobasa is promoted as the first Artificial Intelligence experience on the Bengali stage. But the play, written by Prasun Bandyopadhyay, is not original. Inspired by Star Jalsa’s Koler Bou, the situational comedy is about an accidental marr­iage between a supplier of laboratory materials (Sumit Kumar Roy) and a humanoid (Garbita Ghosh). As the bride settles into her domestic life, her conservative father-in-law, played with comic flair by Bandyopadhyay, makes it difficult for one and all. Roy’s ability to craft funny situations is admirable. The laboratory scenes are designed to complement the domestic ones. Make-up helps Ghosh in her poker-faced portrayal, while Roy impresses in the hero’s part.