“Iswar, Prithibi, Bhalobasa”

(“God, Earth, Love”)

A Montage of Three Plays

Written by Sudipta Bhawmik
Directed by Sudipta Bhawmik, Soumendu Bhattacharya, Pinaki Datta

Synopsis:

“Iswar, Prithibi, Bhalobasha” is a montage of three short plays. Each play tells a different story, yet their characters all grapple with a common crisis that threatens to destroy their world of existence.

Iswar, the first play of the  series of three, is about self-introspection and search for truth. Swami Atulananda, a Hindu monk visiting USA to preach Vedanta, experiences a strange epiphany that forces him to rethink about his existence in this fragile world.

Prithibi, the second play, is about finding one’s place in this world. Shyamali, a small town girl is faced with a choice between two worlds. A foreign world of wealth and luxury, or a world of a struggling middle class society that she calls “home”. Which one would she choose?

Bhalobasha, the third play, is about love. Pijush, a love-torn sexagenarian, attempts to propose to his ladylove using tips from a Gen-Y youth. What happens next is a revelation that Pijush had never envisaged.

Note: The content and language of the play is intended for a mature audience and may not be appropriate for young children. Parental discretion is advised. 

“Cold Fusion”

A Play in Bengali  with English SuperTitles

Written by Sudipta Bhawmik
Directed by Pinaki Datta

Synopsis:

Background

On March 24, 1989, Dr. Stanley Pons and Dr. Martin Fleischmann stunned the world by claiming to have produced nuclear fusion at room temperature. The claim of Cold Fusion, which had the promise of producing infinite clean energy at minimal cost, was however debunked by the scientific community as pathological science. 

The Play
“Opposites attract and likes repel.” This has been the accepted law of nature.
But laws are often meant to be broken, especially in life.

Arka, a senior research student of Dr. Pradip Basu, believes he has reproduced the ill famous Pons-Fleischmann Cold Fusion experiment in his laboratory. Dr. Basu tries to dissuade him but later gives in to his scientific curiosity. To prove nuclear fusion, Arka needs the help of a nuclear physicist. Kanika, another student of Dr. Basu, suggests they take help of Rudra, a nuclear physics researcher at the institute. Arka meets Rudra and soon discovers that this arrogant and unwieldy young man could not only help with his experiment but also justify his existence as a human being. 

Will Rudra agree to join hands with Arka? 

Will he be able to tear away his mask and reveal his true self?

NOTE: THIS PLAY IS INTENDED FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED

Cast: 

For Tickets Click Here 

Note: The content and language of the play is intended for a mature audience and may not be appropriate for young children. Parental discretion is advised. 

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“Anahuta Sandhya” (An Uninvited Evening)

A Bilingual Play with English SuperTitles

Written and Directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

Synopsis:

On a lonely evening, a strange man and a woman visit Ashis Sen, a middle-aged widower, in his apartment. The man claims that the woman is Ashis’ wife, whom he had married two years ago in Kolkata, India.  A stunned Ashis denies the outrageous charges. However, the strangers pull out one trick after another to prove their case, and Ashis slowly sinks into a deep abyss that he had dug for himself all his expatriate life.

Cast: 

For Tickets Click Here 

Note: The content and language of the play is intended for a mature audience and may not be appropriate for young children. Parental discretion is advised. 

“Palok” (The Protector)

A Bilingual Play

Written and Directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

Synopsis:

What does it take to be a parent? When does a parent’s rights and responsibilities begin, and when does it end? Is parenting only a biological consequence, or does it mean something more?

An eighteen month old child is removed from his parents by the Child Protective Services (CPS) in suspicion of child abuse and neglect.  The parents claim, that the child’s injury was caused by a minor fall, contradicts the medical diagnosis.  The couple seeks help from their friends in their time of distress.  The friends extend their helping hand to get back the child from CPS custody, but was this the help the parents were looking for?

For Tickets Click Here

Note: The content and language of the play is intended for a mature audience and may not be appropriate for young children. Parental discretion is advised. 

Some photos from the South Asian Theater Festival 2013 Show:

Banijye Basate Lakshmi

 Written  by Sudipta Bhawmik

Directed by Sankar Ghoshal

Gagan Goswami, the famous motivational speaker, has recently authored a book titled, ” Ka -e- Kenabecha “, where he claims that to do business, a Bengali need to know only the first letter of the Bengali consonants. Today, he has been invited to talk to the audience and inspire them into doing business and build business empires. What follows is a colorful journey through the life of a Bengali entrepreneur and his search for an answer to the most important question of life – WHY? –

Cast: Sankar Ghoshal and Sudipta Bhawmik

 

 

And

Dance Pe Chance

Written by Sudipta Bhawmik

Directed by Aparajita Das

 

Few wannabe dancers decide to participate in a dance competition leading to a laugh riot, portrayed by an ensemble cast.

 

 

 

 

Saturday, April 20, 2013  6:00 pm

Sunday, April 21, 2013    4:00 pm

Edison Valley Playhouse
2196 Oak Tree Road, Edison, NJ 08820

Tickets: $20:00

Discounts available for ECTA members, Seniors and Students

“Cassandra Othoba Hoyto Ekti Chairer Kahini”

(Cassandra or Maybe a Chair’s Tale)

Synopsis:

Cassandra

Are we always stuck to our past? Or is it our present where we want to live forever? But what about our impending future? Are we prepared to face it, or are we just ignoring it?

Cast:

Subhodev Das, Shampa Bhattacharya, Piu Mazumdar, Keka Sirkar and Soumendu Bhattacharya
Written and Directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

“Rajar Chithi”

(Letter from the King)

Synopsis:

During Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to San Francisco in 1916, media reports claim that there was an attempt by Indian nationalists to assassinate him. Fortunately the plan did not succeed and the poet was provided with high level security by the local administration. It was further reported that the primary cause for their failure was that the nationalists couldn’t agree amongst themselves as to whether they should carry out the assassination. But was it really a failure that they couldn’t assassinate Tagore? Or was it the right thing to do?

The play “Rajar Chithi” is a fictional account of the moral, ideological and psychological conflicts these nationalist freedom fighters of India possibly had to experience to arrive at this decision. The play also offers a deep insight into the social, political and philosophical influence Tagore had on the people at a time when the entire World was going through a great turmoil.

The play is written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik. The cast includes some very talented stage actors like Subhodev Das, Pinaki Datta and Piu Majumdar.

 

“The Last Flames”

Written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

Synopsis:

Basanta Koomar Roy, an expatriate journalist from India, has been credited by Tagore researchers as a key person (besides W. B Yeats and Ezra Pound) responsible for popularizing Rabindranath Tagore in USA. But Roy fell from his idol’s grace for reasons that torment many a biographer and journalist even today. “The Last Flames” attempts to re-examine the relationship between Roy and Tagore through a fictional encounter and gives us a peek at the human side of the great Poet’s personality.

Samar, a young trainee journalist, comes to interview Basanta Koomar Roy at his apartment in New York city, sometime in 1948. Basanta is excited to share his experience as an Indian nationalist freedom fighter in USA. But Samar tells him that he is interested in knowing about his experience with Rabindranath Tagore, since he was the first to write Tagore’s biography in English for the American people. Basanta refuses to talk about his Gurudev until Samar uses his ultimate weapon that opens the flood gates of memories and emotions of this old admirer of Tagore.

The following obituary of Basanta Koomar Roy was published in The New York Times on June 8, 1949: Basanta Koomar Roy, Indian author and free-lance journalist, who had lived in this country for many years, died on Sunday in St. Luke’s Hospital after a brief illness. His home was at 116 West Eightieth Sreet. Born in Orissa Province, India, and a member of the Brahmin caste, Mr. Roy came to the United States around 1910 and studied at the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated and where he was later an extension lecturer. He was instrumental in arranging a lecture at the university in 1916 by the great Indian poet, the late Rabindranath Tagore. Mr. Roy was long a writer and speaker for Indian freedom and has been active in the Friends of Freedom for India. He was the author of a biography of Mr. Tagore and of “Dawn over India”, a book telling of the Indian underground movement against British rule.

Cast: Sankar Ghoshal, Keka Sirkar, Abhijit Neogy
Music: Akaash Deep; Sound: Dwaipayan Mukherjee
Lights: Subhodev Das

Ekti Gnaye Thaki (We Live in a Village)

Written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

What makes a family? Who are our family members? Who is our brother and who is our sister? What expectations do we have for our family? What are our demands? Do we all live in a village of strangers?

 

“Ekti Gnaye Thaki” is the story of Ranjana and her brother, Rajat, reuniting after fourteen years. Rajat immigrates to the US with his family after Ranjana sponsors their green cards. The reunion is marked by its usual excitement followed by nostal-gia for their hometown Gobindapur they both left behind. Rajat becomes a critical link for Ranjana to relive her past, while Ranjana helps him come to terms with his decision to abandon his familiar world in Gobindapur. Ranjana is also ill and Rajat’s presence offers a long awaited emollient. As the brother and the sister often slip into the past, the rest of the characters are excited at the prospects of their future in the US, especially Rajat’s son, Rajib. Life gradually settles down and a quotidian harmony evolves. Yet from the beginning, the play occasionally and quite subliminally alludes to an underlying subplot that threatens the apparent calm between the two families. Eventually, through a set of related incidents, the undisclosed piece – a rather disconcerting one – is revealed. The disclosure tears apart the growing assurance of the families’ suburban life, and more importantly, sets in motion a drift into the past that interrogates those relationships that were deemed normal. Though this interrogation fractures a happy picture, however, it is through this fracture, we are invited to revisit something more important – the attachment between human be-ings. The play above all, irrespective of its specificities of time and place, is a commentary on what it means to be a human being in relation to those we hold dear in our lives.

Cast: Sankar, Lili, Indranil/Subhodev, Aparajita, Raja/Dwaipayan, Debi/Sudipta, Abhijit
Music: Samya Goswami; Lights: Subhodev Das

Banaprastha (The Retirement)

Written by Sudipta Bhawmik; Directed by Indranil Mukherjee

Music: Partha Mukherjee

Cast: Subhodev, Keka, Kaninika, Gargi, Samya, Indranil, Pradeep, Kaushik, Lilabati

Synopsis:

A senior Bengali virologist returns to India, after retiring from his medical practice of 35 years, to find peace, tranquility and solace amongst his family and old friends. But soon he discovers that his nemesis has followed him and he has nowhere to hide.

 

Satyameva

Written by Sudipta Bhawmik; Directed by Indranil Mukherjee / Sudipta Bhawmik

Cast: Sudipta / Sankar, Pinaki / Indranil

Synopsis:

Sanjoy, a young software professional, has arrived in the “land of opportunity” for just over six months and works for a software body shopping company “InterSoft” owned and operated by Bill (a Bengali American living in the States for over thirty years.) On the day of the play Bill fires Sanjoy and asks him to go back to India. Sanjoy, however, is not happy with this decision and refuses to oblige. He informs Bill that he is not going to return to India under any circumstances. He states that returning to India is synonymous to signing a death warrant for himself. He cannot subject himself to such a grave risk. Moreover to justify himself, and to win his ultimate motive, he has to make a choice between truth or deceit.

 

Taconic Parkway

Written and Directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

Cast: Keka Siirkar, Indranil Mukherjee, Pinaki Datta

Synopsis:

Manasij, a veteran Bengali screen actor is visiting USA with a theater group to stage some shows in multiple cities. During his first stop in New York, he is hosted by Dipak and Sharika at their multi-million dollar mansion in upstate New York. The enthusiastic host, Dipak, expresses his desire to make a film with Manasij as the hero and their daughter Pom as the heroine. But Sharika objects to this proposal vehemently. She would never let Pom take part in this dream project of Dipak. Manasij tries to mediate, but soon realizes that he is being pulled into a dark vortex of suspicion and animosity that was carefully camouflaged by the opulence and the veneer of apparent happiness of an affluent NRI family.

Ron

Written and directed by by Sudipta Bhawmik

Synopsis:

The play is about the continuous fight that each one of us has to go through for our physical and emotional survival, especially for those of us who are the first generation immigrants to USA. The wars we fight are not always just and fair but we still need to fight them anyway.

Ron (Ronobir) Mitra, son of a Bengali immigrant family, is a member of the US Army National Guard and is currently deployed in Iraq. Ron’s parents, Animesh and Shanti, although not happy with Ron’s decision to join the US Army, respected Ron’s wishes to serve his nation. However, Ron’s deployment to active duty in Iraq has been a constant source of tension and anxiety. On the day of the play, at a small get together at Animesh’s place, Surojit Biswas, a writer and journalist from Kolkata challenges Animesh and his guests about their loyalty, their beliefs and their fundamental moral values. The party rapidly goes into a tailspin with each character exposing their secret wars that they have been fighting all along.

The play premiered in New Jersey at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick on July 15th at the South Asia Theatre Festival 2006 (satf2006.org). The play was also staged in Kolkata at the Rabindrasadan Auditorium on July 25, 2006 as a part of the Ganakrishti Theatre Festival. The play was later staged at the Edison Valley Playhouse, Edison, NJ; Boston and Memphis.

Cast and Crew

Ron : Amitav Roy
Animesh : Sankar Ghoshal
Shanti : Lilabati Majumdar
Nando : Kaushik Datta
Bidisha : Nandita Ghosh
Tanmoy : Debi Prasad Palit /Tapas Ghosh
Surajit : Indranil Mukherjee
Pragya : Keka Sirkar

Music : Mitali Bhawmik
Lights: Subhodev Das
Super Title Operation: Aparajita Das
Supertitle Text: Subhodev Das, Srabasti Palit, Keka Sirkar, Sudipta Bhawmik
Production and Stage Management: Tapas Ghosh, Samir Biswas, Mayuresh Khare

KaalSuddhi / The Redemption

Written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik

Synopsis:
This play is about Subimal who, once an active naxalite, had to flee his own country and come to America in search of a new life. Although Subimal did find a new life for himself, his past always haunted him, a past which he had always kept a deep secret. Suddenly, one day this secret starts to reveal itself to his son Somu from a long lost diary. Somu, a Harvard junior, is extremely curious to know the details of his father’s past, wants to know more about the Naxalite movement. But he never could have guessed the kind of murky and deep waters he is getting into. Subimal tried to prevent the inevitable, but his failure to do so ultimately leads him to his redemption.
The Bengali version of the play (KaalSuddhi), also written and directed by Sudipta Bhawmik was staged at the New Jersey, New York and Toronto, Canada stages and received great accolades from the audience. The English version (The Redemption) of the play was staged at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2005 at the Dixon Place.

Cast: Indranil Mukherjee/Shankar Ghoshal, Amitabh Roy, Pinaki Datta/Mayuresh Khare, Keka Sirkar