Bengali theatre came into its own at an international theatre festival organised in the Capital earlier this month. Organised by the New Delhi Kali Bari in association with Sangeet Natak Akademi and Circle Theatre Company, at LTG Auditorium, the festival held the 11th All India Bengali Short Drama Competition.

Showing a sign of its maturity, the drama fest, over the last two seasons, has seen a tremendous leap in the quality of content and performance. This year too, performances of 28 selected

Bengali short plays were beautifully staged and judged by eminent Bengali theatre writer Chandan Sen, legendary theatre director and writer Asit Basu and well- known theatre scholar and critic Ashish Goswami.

Participants comprised one theatre group from Bangladesh, 23 from West Bengal and four from Delhi. The dramas they staged highlighted various social evils prevailing in the society. Talking about the need for such plays, particularly in the current digital-dominated age, Swapan Ganguly, secretary, New Delhi Kalibari, told The Statesman, “When Internet occupies the larger part of a day, short dramas can help to bring people back to theatres.”

He said artists are now theatrically-inclined, they know the depth, discipline and commitment of theatre. “We are seeing a lot of talent and, moreover, enthusiasm for this new concept in the young artistes. There is definitely a future for short-drama in our country, as the current generation does not have time to sit for a 2-3 hour long play,” he added.

Talking about the concept, Ganguly said despite being a fresh idea, they received good response from theatre groups and individuals. “We received tremendous response as a number of scripts were submitted to us. Only 28 were selected and seven teams were awarded in various categories, including Best Drama, Director, Script, Actor, Actress, Production and Technician,” he said.

Names of the winning teams are: Ichapur Aleya “E-Manabik” (Best Production); Chandan Nagar Srijan “Samparko”; Angan Belgharia 2003 “Dui Adhyay”; Unity Malancha “Poka”; Bangiya Parishad Paschim Vihar “Ek Din Nandini” (Delhi); Drama Society Aakriti “Tashkar” (Delhi); Goria Sucharchar “Trigger”(West Bengal).

Bangiya Parishad Paschim Vihar, a Delhi-based Bengali Theatre group bagged the Beststaged Craft and Best Make-up award for their production of play Ek Din Nandini, a play depicting the current scenario of our society regarding the condition of women and libration of the same. The play, written by Shankar Basu Thakur, revolves around an upper middle- class housewife, Nandini, the protagonist.

The hour-long play focuses chiefly on the protagonist, who is solely dependent upon her spouse and believes him blindfoldedly. An unpleasant incident shakes her when she witnesses a heinous act of physical dishonour committed by her brother-in-law. This episode agitates her. She realizes her own self, deciding to protest against the situation. In terms of acting, the story was eloquently staged by Soma Dutta, a versatile actress of Bengali theatre in Delhi, in the role of Nandini, Tapas

Chakraborty, eminent theatre artist of Delhi, who has been working in the theatre circuit for the last 40 years and appreciated for his contributions towards Bengali theatre, portrayed the character role of Sudeb Mukherjee, Nandini’s spouse. Another well-known artist Tarun Das, as Police

Inspector Sanjay, supported well. This play culminated with a message for women liberation, which is definitely a call of the time and appreciated by the audience.