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| The Ramkinkar Beij exhibition at Gaganendra Pradarshashala. Picture by Aranya Sen |
The maverick artist is 100. And it is time to raise a toast to the memory and masterpieces of Ramkinkar Beij. Mukhomukhi, a theatre group that is turning 10, has laid out a variety of things that touched Ramkinkar in the course of his journey from his Jugipara home in Bankura, his shift to Santiniketan, his initiation into world art through Kala Bhavan teacher Nandalal Bose, and the influence of Rabindranath Tagore.
An exhibition on view till June 10 at Gaganendra Pradarshashala takes us through moments of his life through 40 of his paintings that have been photographed. ?Artists like Jogen Chowdhury, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Chandi Lahiri and Hiran Mitra have also lent their works in tribute to the master sculptor,? says organising secretary Sujit Dutta.
On Sunday, Suchitra Mitra will light the ceremonial lamp to start the proceedings. Ramananda Bandyopadhyay will felicitate sculptor Bipin Goswami, after which Mitra will recite poetry in one of her rare public appearances these days.
Then, Soumitra Chatterjee, Saoli Mitra, Srikanta Acharya and Debarati Som will lend their voice to Pathar Jokhon Sanlap, a word-mosaic of the sculptures of Ramkinkar woven by poet Subodh Sarkar. The evening of June 12 is reserved for an interactive session at Rabindra Sadan in which Samir Aich will paint while percussionists Bikram Ghosh and Debajyoti Bose will play the tabla.
Mukhomukhi?s production based on Ramkinkar?s life, Nil Mati Lal Kankor, will be staged at Academy of Fine Arts the next evening.
A seminar on sensuality in classical dance will take place the evening after at the same venue. The inter-relation of the arts will be discussed by Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Ashok Mukhopadhyay and Madhubani Chatterjee on June 15.
The same evening at Sisir Mancha will be dedicated to song and dance, featuring Madhabi Mukherjee, Srijato and Sriradha Bandyopadhyay among others.
Nandan II will screen an 80-minute documentary Artist of the Soil, directed by Nitish Mukherjee on June 16 at 6.30 pm. Three stages will be set up in the Nandan complex where theatre groups Annyo Desh, Bharatiya Gananatya Sangha Sampratik Shakha and Theatre Spandan will stage three of Tagore?s works ? Chandalika, Raktakarabi and Ekannoborti ? on June 17.
On June 18, Kabir Suman and Lopamudra Mitra will present a morning of predominantly Tagore songs at Rabindra Sadan. The afternoon will stage an experimental play.
?Four painters, Samir Aich, Sunil Dey, Alik Das and Tarun Dey, get inspired by a moonlit night and put brush to canvas live on stage. They provide insights into their philosophy as mime artistes try to give life to them. Couples from a slum and an apartment appear on stage bathed by the moonlight. A narrator weaves the disparate situations together,? explains director Biplanu Moitra.
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| Schwimmer: Broadway dreams |
Friends star David Schwimmer?s dream ? debuting on Broadway ? has finally come true. Despite being known as the lovelorn Ross Geller (opposite Jennifer Aniston) in the popular sitcom, Schwimmer has opted for a change of image on stage.
In a revival of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Herman Wouk?s stage adaptation of his novel that later became a hit film, Schwimmer plays Lt. Barney Greenwald, a brilliant defense attorney who loves legal wrangles.
Set in 1945, the play revolves around a young lieutenant who steered the U.S.S. Caine during a typhoon in World War II. In order to counter the charges levelled against the lieutenant, his lawyer (Schwimmer) has to prove that the ship?s commander was mentally incapable of leading his men or controlling the ship.
With edge-of-your-seat suspense and gut-churning excitement, the courtroom drama opened in a New York theatre on May 7.
But a pertinent question is whether audiences now accustomed to slicker and quicker dramatic interpretations of courtroom conflict will remain intrigued by Wouk?s deliberate, detail-packed presentation of the cases for and against.
Schwimmer, who has long wanted to appear in Broadway but never had the time to, co-founded the Looking-glass Theatre Company in Chicago. With his troupe, he went on to act and direct in a string of plays.
Last year, he appeared in the West End in Neil La Butes?s play Some Girl(s).
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial was first seen on Broadway in 1954 and starred Henry Fonda in Schwimmer?s role. It was then revived at the Circle in the Square in 1983 and made into a 1988 TV film starring Jeff Daniels, Eric Bogosian and Peter Gallagher. The novel had won Wouk a Pulitzer Prize in 1952.
?A welcome break from cartoons and Bollywood. It is entertainment with a purpose, there are no sermons but the entire exercise makes kids (both those who participate and those who only watch) more aware of the world around them,? said a regular visitor to the Prithvi theatre festival in Mumbai. This three-month-long initiative plays itself out through workshops and performances for children aged six to 16 at four venues: Prithvi, Horniman Circle Garden, Y.B. Chavan auditorium and Bharatiya Music Arts Society.
To begin with there were the series of 28 creative workshops conducted by 19 specialists from April 15 to June 9. These not only initiated more youngsters into acting and body movement skills but also taught them the art of making puppets, masks, musical instruments, scientific toys, sculptures and murals from everyday material. The participants were also given the scope to hone their writing skills.
The main draw is of course the 17 productions in Hindi, English, Marathi, Hindustani and puppetry in 106 shows from May 16 to June 11. Prithvi, full on most days, was jam-packed for Ansh Theatre group?s Dhoni Dho Dalta Hai, written and directed by Makrand Deshpande. Other highlights were Ipta Balmanch?s Agar Aur Magar, Ekjute?s Sone Ki Machchali, Maharashtra Cultural Centre?s Aai Pan Baba Pan, Theatre-in-Education India Trust?s Par Hame Khelna Hai and Joy Fernandes?s (whom Calcutta saw as Nick Bottom in Tim Supple?s A Midsummer Night?s Dream) Chotu? Speaking.
Child actors from Germany Schnawwlam National Theatre will stage Robinson & Crusoe about two enemy soldiers stranded on an island. Both are forced to stop fighting and start negotiating. They succeed in building a boat together, despite biases and mutual mistrust. But then home for them lies in opposite directions, so which way do they row?
The gap between viewer and performer is reduced in Minor Matters which invites the audience into the world of storytelling. A pavement dweller has a story to tell and using old toys the actor interacts with the audience.
