On a high note: Anjan Dutt performs at Sanskriti, the Jadavpur University fest, presented in association with The Telegraph, on Thursday. Bangla band Cactus and dance troupe Srishti weaved their magic on Friday, the final night of the fest. Quiz, antakshari and choreography competitions were part of the three-day event, during which a play, Phataru, was also staged. Picture by Aranya Sen

Name the only Calcutta-based English theatre group to have co-produced the annual St Stephen?s College production in the capital. Also, name the play and the director.

If you are stumped, I don?t blame you. Unknown to most people in the city, Theatrecian co-produced Comedy of Errors in the premier Delhi college in February.

Calcutta boy Dhruv Mookerji, who earlier directed Harold Pinter?s The Birthday Party, Tom Stoppard?s The Real Inspector Hound, and the first luncheon theatre at Trincas, was at the helm of affairs here, too.

He now enjoys the honour and privilege of featuring in the list of eminent people who have directed the annual Shakespeare Society production of the college. The society, incidentally, was mentioned by the character essayed by Ankur Khanna in the film Amu.

The list of Indian media personalities who have had the honour includes Siddharth Basu, Bhaskar Ghosh, Barry John, Sumit Tandon, Benjamin Gillani, Kabir Bedi and Roshan Seth.

The Calcutta connection did not end with Dhruv, who studies at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. The cast included several actors with roots in the city.

Ronojoy Banerjee, who first performed in the Theatrecian production of Girish Karnad?s Hayavadan ? directed by Prithviraj Choudhury, a former Stephanian ? played Antipholus of Ephesus.

Nilanjana Bose performed the role of Dromio of Syracuse. She had earlier acted in the Calcutta Club production of The Merchant Of Venice. She?ll soon be seen in a Spandan production featuring Perizaad Zorabian.

Sushmit Sarkar was the other Calcutta talent. He made his acting debut three years back in a Neil Simon play directed by Rohit Pombra. Sushmit was still a student of Apeejay School then.

For me, as the producer, it was a high to see the Theatrecian logo on the first inside cover of the brochure (please excuse the self indulgence).

Dhruv, however, had no idea that Theatrecian was co-producing the play. So on seeing me at the venue, the expanse of his mouth, for once, dwarfed his nose.

The play was an enjoyable juxtaposition of Shakespeare and David Dhawan, with ample doses of WWE and frequent appearances by the college?s own ?Lara Dutta? (that is how the guys address Lara Chandni, one of the actresses).

The play, considered by many as the Bard?s first comedy, revolves around mistaken identity. The director said in his note that the reason he chose the play was because of his ?natural inclination towards comedy?. He, however, admitted the fact that the play was the ?shortest Shakespeare play? and could be managed in 30 days? provided added impetus.

As always, sponsorship and production proved problematic. The direction though helped minimise the production lapses.

Loud make-up and grand sets are expected in a Shakespeare play. But the college production had to do without the basics. Zonal lights were seldom used and the emphasis was more on ordinary stage lights.

Though the director took several liberties, the Bard, if he had been alive, would not have been too unhappy with the result. The appearance of Lara as a courtesan, with the lights turning red and the music creating the mood, was a high point.

The use of the WWE signature tune, and, of course, the stick fight (which seemed to be a spoof of the sword fight between Tathagata Sinha and Prithviraj in Hayavadan), performed by Johan Mathai (as Antipholes of Syracuse) and Neel Paul (as the second merchant), were well conceived and had the audience in splits.

The play was well received by the young audience. Almost all agreed that the young director has what it takes to take Shakespeare to the 21st century audience.

Tathagata Chowdhury
Theatrecian

 

Actors Johan Mathai and Neel Paul in a scene from Comedy of Errors at the St Stephen’s College auditorium

Rock round the clock

The name Regalia might indicate royal paraphernalia, but Regalia 2005 ? Banglay rock hoy na?, the annual cultural festival of the RCC Institute of Information Technology, was as plebeian as it gets.

It drew participants and audience from almost every campus in the city. And the jamboree at Nazrul Mancha on March 1-2 kept everyone rocking.

The students of the college were quite overwhelmed by the response. Young talents, from several colleges, including RCC, showcased their talent in front of a large audience on both days.

The fest also featured performances by Calcutta-based rock band Fossils. But the highlight was the performance by Bangladeshi band LRB.

The jamming between the seasoned performers of both bands kept the audience on their feet throughout. And when the popular numbers were sung, the entire auditorium sang along.

Besides a competition among campus bands, the other events held during the fest included a choreography competition and fashion shows. But it was not just fun. Through the fun and frolic, a significant sum was collected from the audience to help the survivors of tsunami.

In the end, everybody agreed that the RCC-IIT ians had succeeded in keeping the spirit of Regalia alive.

Surupa Basu
RCC Institute of Information Technology

 

Students of St Xavier’s College perform at Sangam, the college reunion, on Saturday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Theatre on the move

On February 26, an Indo-German mobile phone theatre project presented by Rimini Protokoll from Germany and Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan, Calcutta, was launched at the Max Mueller Bhavan auditorium.

Several well-known names from the fields of cinema, theatre, art and television were present at the launch.

The director of Max Mueller Bhavan, Martin Waelde, gave an introductory speech on the project.

He informed the gathering that this was the first time such a project was being undertaken in any part of the world. Waelde also spoke about the film that actor, director and singer Anjan Dutt is going to make on the project.

Dutt said he mainly made films out of fictional material and this was the first time he was making a documentary. He added that he had started shooting, but did not want to say more about the film.

The participants in the project start off as audience, but end up as the player, the user, the hero. Instead of being ushered to a seat in a auditorium, they are handed a mobile phone at the renovated Star Theatre and then shown the exit door.

A voice guides the participant step by step through the streets of Calcutta, making him or her see the city thorough new eyes.

One of the three directors of the project, Helgard Haug, said that world itself is a big stage and the real essence of life, the real drama, cannot be found in an auditorium, but in streets, lanes and bylanes.

He said that the next chapter of the project would be in Berlin and expressed hope that this unique form of theatre would bring the two cities closer to each other.

Waelde spoke at length about what eminent German writer Gunter Grass, who spent six months in Calcutta, had to say about the city.

He said while Grass dwelled on the problems faced by Calcutta, the German theatre group was more intent on exploring the positive aspects of the city, which is known as the cultural capital of India.

The project is a non-profit one. The fee of Rs 40 per person will be used to support a social project in the Hatibagan area.

The ?actors? are from various walks of life and were chosen after intensive rehearsals. The team comprises call-centre employees, theatre actors, students and even a filmmaker.

Anyone interested in the project can contact Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan, Calcutta, visit www.call-cutta.in, or call 9831880501.

Shubhajit Chakraborty