PERFORMANCES 02
[ Glimpses of performances by People's Theatre Group ]
Masquerade
2021
Society, as a parched tree, shades a masquerade where pretence is so close to reality that even our nearest ones fail to decipher the truth. When the mask sheds, it reinforces death of trust and love.
Language: Bengali
The inquisitiveness of mankind and the eternal exploration of knowledge has led to
doubts and sense of uncertainty in the mind of Faust. He represents the entire race
that have created civilisation and society thereafter, whose ambitious search to attain
completeness and absolution has been stretched between faith and reality of
existence. He loses his wife, Margarette with the narcissistic affiliation towards none
other than self. Anahita, the Goddess has her own whims on the prejudices of Faust,
who calls himself to be an atheist. In a journey of nothingness, vices and sins
accompany him with satanic implorations of Lucifer as well his servant
Mephistopheles. The doomsday prophecy is an every moment’s affair with mankind,
inviting the last of nowhere, through predictable sins.
Language: Hindi
Faust
2021
Faust
2021
Walnut & 20 Books
2021
[ OPPRESSION ] [ FRUSTRATION OF/IN/FROM SOCIETY ] [ MAJORITARIANISM ] [ MULTIFACETED / DILUTED TRUTH ] [JUSTICE ] [ APATHY/ALIENATION ] [SUBORDINATION ]
Walnut and 20 books had been devised with the consideration of above mentioned words which are quite relevant for the modern times.
Language: English, Hindi
Life is a prose which is in constant conflict with the verses after death. In other words, the poetry after death is more real than the life itself. What's being dreamt is not realised in this harshest of 'war' within, dissected by society for being self contained and alone in microcosm of life.
Life is dissected in different paragraphs of a story while death bring the poetry.
Language: English, Bengali, Hindi
Dissect
2021
Hanush
2021
This play somehow reminds us of the famous poem:
THE BREAD OF THE PEOPLE
by Bertold Brecht
Justice is the bread of the people
Sometimes is plentiful, sometimes it is scarce
Sometimes it tastes good, sometimes it tastes bad.
When the bread is scarce, there is hunger.
When the bread is bad, there is discontent.
Throw away the bad justice
Baked without love, kneaded without knowledge!
Justice without flavour, with a grey crust
The stale justice which comes too late!
If the bread is good and plentiful
The rest of the meal can be excused......[...and so it continues]
Language: Hindi
‘A Hunger Artist’, published in 1922, is a short story by Franz Kafka (1883-1924). The story is about a hunger artist in a circus who sits in a cage and fasts for weeks on end. However, after forty days have passed, the impresario who runs the circus always puts an end to the hunger artist’s period of fasting.
What is the meaning of this story?
Is it, as is so often the case with Kafka’s fiction, a modern fable?
Language: English, Hindi
Ardh Satya
2022 - 23
It is an anthology of dramatic expressions depicting three stories of reality. Spread over 1000 sq ft, the play is about the resilient human minds who weave facts out of happenings. Some of these happenings are undoubtedly the practices of life which has falsehood as the tool of propaganda.
Three stories of the play which are more real than fictions, surround the audience with their brutal half truths of acceptance.
That's what Ardh Satya is all about.
That's what is today's anarchic truth about India as a nation.
Language: Hindi
Poets and upturned invocation of people's voices are ageless. Maybe, that last of the soldiers was a poet in his boots, who had never left his post in a land without borders. So had been the last drop of emptiness in the state's triumphs of burnt propaganda for every other beneficiary than the citizens of the nation.
Either you and I are blind or love playing hide and seek while Nero and Creon play happy tunes of anarchical violin.
The choice is not between poetry and an empty cup.
On the contrary, there is no choice.
We must bury the dead.
"For if any man thinks that he is alone is wise--that in speech, or in mind, he hath no peer--such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty", Sophocles in Antigone.
Language: Hindi
Antigone - Antibody
2023
Dhuh
2023
Theatre is about living through the war torn minds and acceptance of undermined stories. Every life is different, every moment has variables of understanding. Wars, conflicts as well as peace are the outcomes of these understandings.
'Dhuh' is all about the war as a call for peace; within the human minds.
The story of war is a grievous meandering of lives who are stateless, border-less immigrants. People are being torn apart from their roots to remain parched and die.
War; how horrifying it can be!
Migration: how painful it is!
Language: Hindi
At the outset of the play, Oedipus is the beloved ruler of the city of Thebes, whose citizens have been stricken by a plague. Consulting the Delphic oracle, Oedipus is told that the plague will cease only when the murderer of Queen Jocasta’s first husband, King Laius, has been found and punished for his deed. Oedipus resolves to find Laius’s killer. His investigation turns into an obsessive reconstruction of his own hidden past when he discovers that the old man he killed when he first approached Thebes as a youth was none other than Laius. At the end, Jocasta hangs herself in shame, and the guilt-stricken Oedipus blinds himself.
Language: Hindi
Oedipus
2023
Raktkusum
2023
Raktkusum
2023
𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑚 𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒 '𝑅𝑎𝑘𝑡𝑘𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑚'. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑚𝑑𝑒𝑜 𝐷ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦.
𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 '𝑅𝑎𝑘𝑡𝑘𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑚' 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑚 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 '𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑂𝑛 𝐴 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡' 𝑡𝑜 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠.
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑂𝑛 𝐴 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡
- 𝑁𝑎𝑚𝑑𝑒𝑜 𝐷ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑙
𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒-𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦,
𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.
𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑥 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑣𝑒.
𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝐴𝑑𝑎𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡.
𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠.
𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙’𝑠 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑒.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑖𝑚𝑝
𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝑂𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ.
𝑊𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠.
𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒;
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡.
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝐴 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠.
𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡.
𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛.
Language: Hindi