Theatrician’s production of Wyrd Sisters (Gyan Manch, June 24), based on Terry Pratchett’s novel, worked, but only partly. This is because in attempting to experiment with form they failed to delve deeper into the psychological drama of Pratchett’s story, which is a take-off on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The word ‘wyrd’ comes from the Norse concept of destiny and when Shakespeare used it in Macbeth (‘saw you the wyrd sisters?’ etc) it was loaded with the different nuances of meaning ? from the Old English ‘supernatural’ and the modern ‘strange’ to the Norse meaning. Prachett looks at the same themes, but through a comic lens. Theatrician merely focuses through this comic lens. Fortunately at its disposal is a group of young actors, mostly college students, with a sense of comic timing (although with a few mistimed pauses and faulty dialogue deliveries). It also help-ed that director Dhruv Mukherjee followed Stephen Brigg’s stage adaptation to the tee.
Dola Mitra
An evening recital (June 26) hosted by Chayan from Budge Budge-Santoshpur opened up fresher vistas in appreciation of Tagore’s impressionist masterpieces on monsoon. Aniruddha Sinha’s suave treatment of the haunting Chhaya ghanaichhe bone bone had the mesmerising effect of a Casper David Friedrich landscape on a sparse Kalakunj audience. The restlessness of romantic imagination was evident in Rajashri Bhattacharya’s masterly interpretation of Oi ase oi ati from Varshamangal. And one can always rely on Ashis Bhattacharya for an element of surprise. His interpretation of Heriya shyamal, a deceptively simple kheyal derivative on Gourmallar, was captivating.
Anshuman Bhowmick
Nabanita Banerjee’s recent exhibition of paintings ‘My Vignette’ shows canvases with spontaneous use of acrylic, where she has not tried to show any known form. The experiments with application of colour creates interesting forms on the canvas. Her forms sometimes resemble human figures or landscape, which fuse and melt on the surface, and make the painting visually pleasing. She loves to experiment with the medium to achieve new effects and textures. In some of her mixed-media creations one can see the intricate textures achieved. But her water colour paintings do not share the maturity of her canvas paintings, neither are they a skilful application of colour.
Suman Choudhury
