Actions speak louder than words The magic of theatre has its effect upon the actors, and not only its audience. The actor becomes a god-like figure on the stage — larger than life. The result of this is that the actor’s confidence in himself and his work grows with every performance. For a deaf actor, the growth of such confidence is all the more an empowering experience. In fact, it begins to reflect in other spheres of life as well. Since 1974, The Action Players, India’s only theatre group of hearing-impaired adults, have been performing regularly in the city. Its members, who primarily come from the Oral School for Deaf Children in Calcutta, have, over the years, moved on to build independent lives in diverse careers, clearly vindicating the basic aim of setting up such a troupe. This evening, the group presents The Pebble and the Taal Tree and more stories by Bonophool. Presented through mime, sign-language, English narration, music and dance, it promises to be a unique experience that appeals to audiences of all ages. In it, seven evocative and poetic stories by Bonophool, some of which are rib-tickling, have been adapted for the stage. As the layered, deeply-moving stories unfold, audiences will laugh heartily or cry softly: Meni the cat outdoes Parul and Binode; in the pond, the water-creatures go on a strike!; a boy falls in love with a child-bride as she leaves home with her husband; and a crow cannot be silenced by the aged Jagattarini. Dramatised by Zarin Chaudhuri. Media partner: t2. Event: Play, The Pebble and the Taal Tree, produced by The Action Players When: Today at 7 pm Where: Gyan Manch

ART

January 16 - 22 (except Sunday) at 94 Ballygunge Place, #24613145; 10 am - 7 pm: Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts presents Secret Notions, an exhibition of paintings by Najma Akhtar from Bangladesh. Inauguration this evening at 6.30. Till January 16 at 2/1 Hindusthan Road; 11.30 am - 7.30 pm: Experimenter presents Freedom is Notional — works of three of South Asia’s leading artists Shilpa Gupta (India), Bani Abidi (Pakistan) and Naeem Mohaiemen (Bangladesh). Till January 16 at Gallery Sanskriti, 5C Alipore Park Road, #2448 4925; 11 am - 8 pm: Surya Prakash: A Retrospective Exhibition. Till January 17 at Taj Bengal, The Promenade Lounge; 10 am - 11 pm: A solo exhibition of recent works by Subhash Pal. The artist will be painting live from 3 pm to 6 pm. Till January 17 at Bodhi Tree Monastery of Art, 48/44 Swiss Park, #2424 6534; 2 pm - 7 pm: A solo show of Arnab Basu’s works. Till January 17 at Gallery Exposure, 54B Mahanirban Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: Intimacy — the fifth solo exhibition of drawings and paintings by Sumana Ghosh. Till January 20 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Gouranga Kundu. Till January 20 at Academy of Fine Arts (North Gallery); 12 noon - 8 pm: Rangotsav Art Gallery presents Bengal Paintings: Search for National Identity Pre-Modern and Modern — featuring works of Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Atul Bose, Ramkinkar Baij, Gobardhan Ash, Kali Kinkar Ghosh Dastidar, Gopal Ghosh, Indra Dugar, Satyajit Ray, Meera Mukherjee, K.G. Subramanyan, B.R. Panesar, Chittaranjan Das, Hari Prasad Medda, Gopal Sanyal, Sishu Ranjan Das, Sanat Kar, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Ganesh Pyne, Jogen Chowdhury, Dharmanarayan Dasgupta, Bansidhar Pratihari, Hrishikesh Dev Barman and Kanchan Chakraborty. Till January 20 at Academy of Fine Arts (West Gallery); 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings and drawings by Biswanath Roy. Till January 20 at Academy of Fine Arts (South Gallery); 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Sukla Bhattacharyya. Till January 20 (except Sunday) at Eye on Art Gallery, 3 Pretoria Street, 2nd floor; 12 noon - 8 pm: Watercolours by Apurba Mazumder. Till January 20 at Art Walk, South City Mall; 12 noon - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Arup Ratan Choudhury and Shuvendu Sarkar. Till January 27 at ICCR, Ho Chi Minh Sarani: 52nd National Exhibition of Art by Lalit Kala Akademi. Till January 30 (except Sunday) at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani, #2290 2274; 11 am - 7 pm, Monday (2 pm - 7 pm): Visual Diary — an exhibition of the works of Chandra Bhattacharjee. Till January 31 (except Mondays) at Victorial Memorial Hall; 10 am - 5 pm: Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the V&A, 1790-1927, hosted by The Victoria Memorial Hall and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Till January 31 (except Mondays) at Ahuja Museum for Arts, 26 Lee Road, #40034974, 22894745; 11:30 am – 7:30 pm: An exhibition of Happy Paintings (a blend of French, Cambodian and Canadian art) by Stephane Delapree. Till January 31 (except Mondays) at Shree Art Gallery, 11 Gurusaday Road, Kusum Apartment, Flat no. 61, #30222040; 3 pm - 7 pm: Christmas Hues, an exhibition of the works of Ajita Sengupta, Soumitra Kar, Pramothesh Chandra, Dhiren Sasmal, B.R. Panesar, Deben Laha, Stuti Laha, Sambhu Saha, Subrata Das, Sukanta Das, Samir Paul, Prasun Mollick, Milanendu Mondal, Moloy Chandan Saha, Ashok Ganguly, Sarbani Ganguly, Subrata Sen, Ranjan Sarkar, Suman Dey, Ashis Mondal, Jibon Biswas, Karunamoy Sur, M.H. Mollah, Kakoli Mishra, Ranadip Das, Paresh Saha, Swapan Palley, Bappa Halder and Ashimava Dutta. Till February 6 (except Sundays & public holidays) at CIMA Gallery, Sunny Towers (2nd floor), 43 Asutosh Chowdhury Avenue, #2485 8717/8509; Mondays: 3 pm - 7 pm, Tuesdays - Saturdays: 2 pm - 7 pm: Nomadic Detours — recent works by Samir Aich.

DRAMA

January 16 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Lok-Krishti presents Tagore’s Laboratory. Direction: Phalguni Chattopadhyay. January 16 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Rang Roop will stage Jalchhabi. Direction: Seema Mukhopadhyay. January 16 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Chokh presents Ardhek Aakash, directed by Abhijit Kargupta. January 17 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Samskar Bharati presents its recent production, Rajyogi, directed by Debashis Kabiraj. January 17 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Sundaram will stage Ja Nei Bharatey. Drama, direction & performance: Manoj Mitra. January 17 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Bohurupee presents Pati-Paksha. Direction: Tarapada Mukhopadhyay.

BOOK LAUNCH

January 16 at Poddar Niket, 2 Gurusaday Road; 3.15 pm: Bharti Deveshwar will launch Meals, Menu & More, written by Sangita Biyani, Manjri Agarwal and Anju Poddar. January 17 at Starmark, South City Mall; 5 pm: In association with British Council, Calcutta, Starmark will host the Calcutta launch of Shrabani Basu’s Victorian Abdul, with Rudrangshu Mukherjee as moderator.

PERFORMING ARTS

January 16 at Rabindra Sadan; 6 pm: Dakshin Kalikata Nandanikee celebrates its silver jubilee and the centenary of Tagore’s Bengali Gitanjali with a solo Rabindrasangeet recital by Ashish Bhattacharjee and songs from Gitanjali by the members of Nandanikee. Alokranjan Dasgupta will speak on Tagore’s work, and Anup Matilal on the institution. January 16 at Aikatan, EZCC, Salt Lake; 6 pm: Shruta Sanglap presents an evening of audio-drama. January 17 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6 pm: Rani presents Gaaney Gaaney Galpo Gatha, an event collaborating Tagore’s plays, short stories, poems and songs from Rakta Karabi, Shesher Kabita, Dak Ghar, Kabuliwala, etc. Participants: Srikanto Acharya and Shreya Guhathakurta in songs, and Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Saswati Guhathakurta in reading and recitation. Courtesy: Dakshinee.

QUIZ

January 17 at Netaji Bhawan, Sarat Bose Haal; 10.30 am: Netaji Research Bureau, in collaboration with Halo Heritage, presents a quiz contest for school children on Netaji and India’s Freedom. Participating schools are Salt Lake C A School, Loreto Convent School, Entally Mahadevi Birla Higher Secondary School, The Heritage School, and M S D Educational Institute.

REUNION

January 17 at Hindu School; 5.30 pm: Reunion of Hindu School Alumni Association. Chief guest: Shuvaprasanna. Songs by Utpalendu Chowdhury and Uttara Chowdhury.

BOOK LAUNCH/WORKSHOP

January 18 at Rotary Sadan; 3 pm: Concept Maps, the first of its kind book based on an innovative concept for science students of Class 11 & 12, would be launched by IIT Kharagpur alumni and professors. Published by Edudigm and co-authored by a team of IITians. The lauch would be followed by interactive workshops. The first, for Class 12 students would be on The Last Lap from 3.30 pm and the second for Class 11 students on Metamorphosis from 5 pm. For registration, call Edudigm office at 40034819, 9051820275, 9332548028.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244