For close to one and a half years now, a location in Calcutta has become the site of weekly shows of relatively brief plays, with an average audience size of around forty or so people. The venue referred to, of course, is Anuchintan Art Centre in Santoshpur where Kasba Arghya, led by the irrepressible Manish Mitra, organises performances of off-proscenium plays on all Saturdays of every month. The venture has been given the rather self-explanatory appellation, Saturday Plays. The performances that take place
are Kasba Arghya productions as well as productions by other theatre groups. Although it is certainly not the first or the only venture in Calcutta to showcase brief, off-proscenium plays where performers and the audience share spatial intimacy, Saturday Plays seems to have caught on — the regular occurrence is a big plus, the shows run to a packed house, and there is a heartening variety of productions.
Truth be told, not all productions turn out to be suitable for the space — the dynamics and the protocols of performing in close proximity to the audience, that too with limited paraphernalia, are yet to be fully comprehended and mastered by all groups. However, for every production that may have missed the mark, there are always some that are exhilaratingly commendable. One such is Antigone: Celebration of the Protest in the Actor’s Body. Designed and directed by Mitra, this interpretation of Antigone has two distinct parts. The first part is an enactment of the familiar Sophoclean text. The stark and austere design compels the actors to dig deep into the repository of their skills to bring out the anguish of Antigone.
The second part, which employs Abhik Bhattacharya’s brilliant writing to extend the
known text into contemporary terrain, is an inspired intervention by Mitra. The aspect of ecophilia in this section is supremely touching. Kaustabh Gupta, Mayurakshi Sen, and Sima Ghosh, all Kasba Arghya veterans, excel in their respective roles, adhering to a minimal code of acting.