Stage Rewind

Even a decade back,Rangmahal,Bishwaroopa,Rangana,Minerva or the Star Theatre were living,breathing world in themselves. The commercial stage was still not a precious bit of history. Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee remembers how Sabitri Chatopdhyay used to bring the house down with the last act of Mallika at the Kashi Bishwanath Mancha at Manicktala. “I am talking about the ’90s here. Even uppity South Kolkata brand-fed residents used to queue up for these performances. I found them a little filmy at times,but imagine recreating cinema on stage,” says Chatterjee. It was this fascination for the lights and sounds of the world that thrived in these theatre halls that led him to conceptualise Theataari,a performance that brings together vignettes from the best plays of the yore. Plays like Chandragupta,Samrat O Sundori,Manusher Adhikare,Bar Bodhu etc which ruled the stage before it was taken over by group theatre.

“I remember going to these halls. They were beautiful structures and of course were steeped in history,” says Chatterjee. A history that is probably saved in some cherished corner of it witnesses,a history that will probably not be repeated anytime soon and a history that is lost on today’s generation. “I want to take people back to the sheer glory of a genre of performance pioneered by the likes of Utpal Dutt,Supriya Devi and Sabitri Chatterjee,” says Chatterjee.

Theataari will see performances by veterans like Sabitri Chatterjee,Manoj Mitra and Biplab Dasgupta,who had been an integral part of the form of theatre the event intends to relive. “In between scenes from the landmark plays,Debjit and Riddhi Bandyopdhyay will belt out theatre songs,” says Chatterjee.

Theataari will be held at the Calcutta Club on May 30.