Kathak exponent Ashimbandhu Bhattacharya presented an innovative choreography under the aegis of Upasana Centre for Dance at Kalamandir on August 25. Blended with elements from martial arts and chhou, the choreographer staged a striking spectacle of rhythm and expression. The programme took off with an invocation, abahan mangalgeeti. This was followed by kalpaloker chhabi, based on Tagore’s poems. The production interlaced the moods of traditional kathak with strong footwork and graceful chakkars along with folk forms. Aesthetically dressed, the dancers proved their skill with smart and precise movements. Luna Poddar, Ritwika Chowdhury, Saswati Mukhopadhyay and others performed with dedication.
Sharmila BasuThakur
A dark stage depicts an overcast night sky in the Himalayas. A heap of black cloth delineating mountain peaks is the only set. Slowly, through the silence emanates the voice of the sanyasi — the protagonist of the play — as he reflects on the nature of the infinite and reveals that he has relinquished the world in search of it. This journey constitutes the main action of Prakritir Pratisodh, a production by Kaliaganj’s Ananya Theatre (July 23, Sisir Manch). If the sublime theme of what is based on Tagore’s musical drama is thus beautifully captured in the beginning, the rest of the play is one long, dreary voyage through uninterrupted gloom. And the black costumes worn by the rest of the characters, representing love and life, or their boring song and dance sequences do nothing to alleviate it.
Dola Mitra
In the midst of a great deal of attempted comedy, one play doing the rounds in Calcutta’s air-conditioned auditoriums comes like a breath of fresh air. Taskar Brittanta (July 26, Academy of Fine Arts) is a hilarious Bengali adaptation of a Dario Fo comedy of errors directed by Amitabha Dutta for Ganakrishti. Grabbing your attention from the word “go” with a suspense-filled sequence — where the character of a thief climbs cautiously in through the window of a well-to-do couple’s house in the dead of night — the plot then proceeds to twist and turn into an entangled mess of mistaken identities, drawing you into a vortex of scandalous situations and confused characters.
Dola Mitra
