In a tribute to the “power of working together”, inmates and correctional service officials of two correctional homes here staged an English play as part of art therapy.
The rendering of The Teahouse of the August Moon, a 1951 novel which was turned into a play which was later adapted into a Marlon Brando starrer as also a Broadway musical, is an initiative of theatre group Stagecraft, founded by the late theatre exponent Rohit Pombra, and West Bengal’s Directorate of Correctional Services.
Performed by the inmates of Alipore Central Correctional Home and Alipore Women’s Correctional Home, the play with dialogues in English and Japanese, aims to transport viewers to 1946 and the island of Okinawa, off the coast of Japan.
Pombra, who passed away in August this year, and the inmates worked for nearly two years in this endeavour, according to Stagecraft.
Pombra, Nandini Banerjee and Krishna Ray directed the play which was screened on Tuesday at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Another performance will be held on December 30.