here - Anubhav

Pablo Picasso - “Art washes away
from the soul the dust of everyday life”
Presents an evening of Drama with
a hilarious short play
Raj--jotak
jotak”” (A Match Made In Heaven)
“Raj
&
a socially relevant comic drama
Tara”” (The Evening Star)
“Sandhya Tara
University Theatre, U of C, Calgary
Saturday, 11th September, 2010
Visit our website www.anubhab.com
WELCOME TO THE SIXTH PRODUCTION OF ANUBHAV CALGARY
We started our performing arts journey four years ago. With your support and
encouragement we successfully staged five productions in Calgary and Edmonton. Many of
you have been with us all along and may well remember our earlier performances. We
welcome all returning patrons. We also welcome all new patrons to our show. Please sit
back, relax and enjoy. Do encourage us with your applause in support.
Last year we experimented with a new format of performing arts and presented “Sruti Asar
– Ramdhanu”. This year we continue with experimentation and present two short plays.
The first, “Raj-Jotak – A Match Made In Heaven”, an adaptation of Anton Chekov’s “The
Proposal”, is a pure comedy. The second, a comic drama with an underlying theme of
changing family values, is “Sandhya-Tara – Evening Star” by Manoj Mitra.
For our new patrons, please note that Anubhav – A Centre for Performing Arts is a
registered society that aspires to bring to light the culture, arts and traditions of the Indian
subcontinent within the North American multicultural milieu through the medium of
performing arts. Bengali is one of the major languages from the Indian subcontinent that
has evolved from Sanskrit. Recently, Unesco crowned Bengali as the sweetest language in
the world. Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world with over 200
million native speakers from the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh. There are
several thousand Bengali speaking Calgarians. Bengali has a rich literary heritage and it has
produced the only Nobel Laureate in Literature from the Indian subcontinent, Rabindranath
Tagore.
Our heartfelt “Thank You” for your contributions. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the
show. We look forward to your continued support in the years to come. Please visit our
website www.anubhab.com for further details about our organization and past productions.
Your feedback in any form, preferably through the website, is most welcome.
ON THIS 9TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 9-11 ATTACK,
ANUBHAV PRAYS FOR ALL THOSE FAMILIES AND
INDIVIDUALS FOR WHOM LIFE WILL NEVER BE
THE SAME AGAIN.
“RAJ-JOTAK” – A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
This short comedy is an adaptation by Ramen Lahiri of “The Proposal” by Anton Chekov.
Chatujje-mosai (Mr. Chatterjee in colloquial Bengali) is a widower who is seeking a match for his
spirited daughter Bindu. In comes Sadananda, a timorous young man from the neighborhood with a
proposal to marry Bindu. After much hesitation, Sadananda is able to convey his intentions to
Chatujje-mosai who agrees with delight and asks his would be son-in-law to propose directly to his
daughter.
Sadananda tries hard but fails to bring up the subject. He beats around the bush, and is encouraged
by Chatujje-mosai, but to no avail. Frustration gives rise to ridiculous arguments about property
disputes and pets as the proposal for marriage degenerates into a farce. Sadananda loses his head
and abuses Chatujje-mosai’s family. A scuffle ensues and Sadananda passes out.
Father and daughter come to their senses fearing the worst. Is Sadananda dead? What happens to the
match made in heaven? Comic situations and funny dialogues make for endearing entertainment.
CAST AND SUPPORT FOR RAJ-JOTAK – A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
Chatujje-mosai
Sanjay Ray
Bindu
Vaswati Chowdhury
Sadananda
Anindya Paul
Direction, Light and
Sound Composition
Chinmoy Banerjee
Keyboard
Suman Chakrabarty
Make-up
Mala Das Biswas, Papia Banerjee,
Paromita Bosu
Stage craft design
Kumares Majumdar
Prompting Support
Manisha Nag, Mou Ray
Video
Kabiruddin, Gautam Banerjee,
Joydip Sanyal, Dahljit
“SANDHYA TARA” – THE EVENING STAR
Kumudshankar and Ashlata are an elderly couple. Their three children are all grown up and living far
away, the elder two with their own families. Life slows down and as their peers pass away, they
worry about the future and wonder whether departed souls live on as twinkling stars in an evening
sky.
They decide to downsize and sell their home. It fetches a handsome price. Hearing the news, the
children descend on the household with their spouses to claim their share of the money. Thus begins
the farce where each tries to outdo the other in proving his/her dire circumstances and hence the
need for support from the parents.
Eldest son nick-named Buju is employed as a civil engineer at Bhilai. He is well employed and has
recently been implicated in corruption charges. He is loud and boorish. He is his mother’s favorite
child and he uses this to the fullest advantage in driving home his “need” for the money. His wife,
the wily Surama, is an able ally in the venture.
Rekha is her father’s favorite child. Her husband, Shibnath owns seven timber mills in Assam. Rekha,
the sharp and aggressive daughter, wants her share of the proceeds. She prevails upon her husband
to declare that all the mills have burnt to the ground. Shibnath reluctantly agrees and in his
bumbling way, provides for much laughter.
The youngest, nicknamed Chhotu is a self-professed revolutionary who mouths Marxist rhetoric at the
slightest pretext and needs money for his cigars and coffee. He initially derides conventional family
values in conversation with Rekha. However, lured by a share of the fortune, he abandon’s ideology
and quietly turns coat while agreeing to marry the girl of his father’s choice.
In order to lessen the burden on their own families, Buju and Rekha hit upon a plan of dividing the
task of caring for their parents. They toss to see who would go with whom. Buju gets to take along
Kumudshankar while Rekha gets Ashlata.
Is the elderly couple separated in their twilight years by the heartlessness of their children? Or does
Kumudshankar have an ace up his sleeve? Through colorful characters and witty dialogue, this
comedy by well known dramatist Manoj Mitra, exposes the plight of the elderly in their twilight
years.
CAST AND SUPPORT FOR SANDHYA TARA – EVENING STAR
Kumudshankar
Nilanjan Nag
Ashalata
Sikha Banerjee
Buju
Prasenjit Saha
Surama
Nazneen Newaz
Chotu
Kabiruddin
Rekha
Anindita Sen Gupta Saha
Shibnath
Kiriti Roy
Gora
Prabir Adhikari
Direction, Light and
Sound Composition
Chinmoy Banerjee
Keyboard
Suman Chakrabarty
Make-up
Mala Das Biswas, Papia Banerjee,
Paromita Bosu
Stage craft design
Kumares Majumdar
Prompting Support
Manisha Nag, Mou Ray
Video
Kabiruddin, Gautam Banerjee,
Joydip Sanyal, Dahljit
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Carnage
By Amrita Nag
I used to consider gore to be the lowest form of television– a ploy to detract from a bad plot. I didn’t
mind a few inexplicit murders here and there for Mr Grissom or Miss Marple to solve, but too frequent
bloody killings was something I believed couldn’t be endured without first ingesting several hydroxyl
groups.
Not without reason, of course. In the past, I fared quite well with seeking out comedies or those
dramas that attempt to depict heart-warming familial bonds. I chuckled pompously with Frasier
Crane over his family’s shenanigans and wept with Lorelai Gilmore during her separation from Luke.
But the two genres became saturated for me. Seinfeld and Friends perfected the sitcom; apart from
only a handful of other shows, sitcom after sitcom rehashed the same storylines in the 2000s.
Romantic and period dramas evolved considerably more with more outstanding productions than I can
single out. But the ones that didn’t spill blood often enough still hit a proverbial barrier. After many
seasons of discontent, I longed for something else. Something massively different.
Dexter started airing four years ago. It is incredible. Adapted from a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay,
the title protagonist is a serial killer incapable of human emotion. The brilliance of the show lies in
the duality of Dexter’s character. The man who remorselessly ritualizes slaying others is a mildmannered forensic by day. And viewers love Dexter. His cold narration, dry humour, and loyalty to
his sister make him appealing. Somehow, the person who ought to revolt us with his brutality makes
us fiercely support him against his enemies.
Dexter’s hobby isn’t the only source of gore. Season One’s Ice-Truck Killer is the quintessential
sociopath. One horrific scene consists of a blood-soaked room that I really don’t want to rewatch;
actually, I’d rather join Idi Amin over a bottle of Merlot. But the scene has a critical revelation about
Dexter’s childhood, and it’s impossible to stop watching the episode. The show’s magic lies in making
even the most non-violent person long for more while averting his eyes.
True Blood, which I started watching a year ago, is adapted from a series of vampire novels by
Charlaine Harris. In case any eyebrows started rising in scepticism, I concede that some recent
vampire fiction has been terrible. Anne Rice’s books were a mess and the Twilight series is mindbogglingly asinine. However, the idea of the vampire itself isn’t terrible; Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a
complexly Gothic response to Victorian societal repression. I won’t compare the iconic classic with
True Blood in fear of sounding stupid, but this show certainly has complex characters.
The main character, Sookie Stackhouse, is a telepathic waitress in the Deep South, who falls in love
with a vampire. As is inevitable due to the setting, the religious right and most of the general
populace lives both in fear and reluctant fascination of the ungodly vampires. Much drama arises
from friction between different factions of tolerant and intolerant people, other supernatural
creatures, and vampires fighting their vicious instincts to coexist with humans.
Bloodshed is also necessary. How can the audience feel even an iota of terror from these ferocious
creatures if the writers pussyfoot around showing the blood surging out of a person’s neck after being
bitten? Exploring any good vs. evil ideas would be weak if the grisly fangs were only implied.
Thankfully, unlike most of what I’ve seen on the big or small screen, the show successfully avoids
imposing its morals or good values on the audience. You can take from it what you wish.
I don’t know exactly why these shows are a satisfying break from watching the ladies of Wisteria
Lane gossip about their neighbours. Perhaps for the same reason the Romans applauded the real
version of Russell Crowe’s character from Gladiator or why my dad revelled in seeing Oscar de le
Hoya take a pounding.
Luckily for us, neither show appears on the big channels. Dexter is on Showtime and True Blood on
HBO. Both networks only produce twelve episodes per season, so we aren’t subjected to annoying
dream sequence episodes and pointless fillers. Freedom from strict censorship also gives the two the
license to pursue unbridled verbal crassness along with the wonderful galore of gory scenes.
Apparently a sure-fire recipe for brilliance: book adaption on cable television.