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Who: They are Playhouse, a group of 30 school students and freshmen who call themselves a performance group. The scene above is from their first play Boomerang.
“We do not want to reveal too much about the play. Except that a lot of it runs in loops,” says Playhouse founder Anubrata Basu, who graduated from St James School this year.
“The om chant runs like a base sound throughout a play,” adds Safdar Rehman, co-founder and a Class XII student of commerce in St Xavier’s Collegiate School. The two students worked together for Video, a Tin Can play staged in February.
Playhouse, formed in April, 2007, will stage its first production Boomerang by the end of this month. “All our activities are looked after by students so we do need guidance,” says Safdar. Which is why they are supported by theatre group Tin Can.
Why: They are a student organisation with lots of talent, guts and as their inventive site (supportplayhouse.googlepages.com/home) says “with no money to splurge”. “We wanted a platform for theatre for young people that would rise above the inter-school competitions. And the Calcutta school circuit is so close knit that picking the best out of these schools wasn’t very difficult,” smiles Safdar. The founders have participated in plays including Oliver, Madagascar (Both St James’ School productions) Loktantra (a street play), What’s Going On? (a Padatik production) and Video (a Tin Can production).
About them: Picture this./Plant a kiss/Two infants take/Bake a cake/Themselves a bit too seriously,/“Graciously?”/And express their urge/To connect with the third wall./And while doing that have a ball.
Playhouse is a lot like this poem on their artfully-designed homepage. Peppy, cute, innovative without being utterly meaningless.
How: “A lot of us know each other through the Calcutta fest circuit. No other city has this active a fest culture at the school level. We had to make use of it to provide a platform to young students. So we asked around and had our first meeting in March, and finally formed in April,” says Safdar. Fellow actor Aditi Roy’s house became rehearsal pad as they kicked off practice for their production.
Style: It’s different, they say. “It’s very visual and we use people as paint. It involves a lot of action and movement,” describes Anubrata. “Boomerang is structured like a loop, so a lot of is like music that repeats in a set pattern and rhythm,” he adds. A lot like the steady repetitive beats of the djembe, a percussion instrument that is heard at the beginning of the play that draws you into a semi-trance even as you watch them rehearse.
Next: “We don’t really know what is next. Except for the magazine we will publish that will come out whenever the play is staged,” says Safdar. But they will always remain committed to providing a space for school students, they add.
Do you know any rising talents?
Tell t2@abpmail.com
