Bengali Play Well Received

PALATINE - Ekti Obastob Galpo, a Bengali play, was staged recently for the Bengali community in Chicago at Palatine's Cutting Hall. Several Bengalis braved rainy weather that night to attend the show.

Ekti Obastob Galpo, meaning an unreal story, was written by the Bengali author, Bimal Bandopadhyay. The play is a powerful and humorous comedy with a dramatic twist at the end, giving a poignant social message.

As the drama started, the ghoshak, or narrator appeared at the front of the stage, asking the audience their opinion on "capital punishment" and inviting them to witness a real hanging. The jailer and officials fed the convict his last meal, the priest conducted the last rites, and what followed was a dramatic audio-visual display of the hanging on the gallows, which is impressive.

However, at the end of the hanging the jail officials discovered that Ka Mandal the convict had actually survived. With a lot of effort they restore him to consciousness, only to find that he is suffering from total amnesia. In a desperate effort to revive his memory (in order to hang him again!) the jail officials and the priest re-enacted the incident of how Ka Mandal strangled and killed his wife five years ago.

The play within a play was extremely comical as the story was played back to Ka Mandal. Within it there there was a twist, as the jailer, once the hunter, became the hunted in an apparent "murder" of the priest. At the end when Ka Mandal does indeed recall the "murder" of his wife, he has a different, poignant tale to tell.

The play keept the audience riveted to their seats from the opening scene, and sent them into peals of laughter. The last scene was particularly striking, dramatic, and touching, making the audience pensive about the hypocritical society where the weak and innocent suffer injustice.

Kanishka Chaudhuri (Doctor), Asim Gangopadhyay (Aheen), Devashish Das (Kamal), and Shubham Sanyal (Ka Mandal) were applauded for their acting. Soumya Bhattacharya, as constable Ram Singh, brought comic relief and special mention must be made of the wonderful acting by Kalyan Maitra as Bachaspati, the priest, and Jasendu Chakraborty as the jailer. The play was directed by Shubham Sanyal. Lights were handled by Soma Sanyal and sound by Shompita Bhattacharya. Use of lights and music taken from different composers was very effective, particularly during the hanging scene and the last scene. With a little improvement this amateur production would have bordered on a "professional" level play. Also, it would be more appreciated if they could use original scores for the music instead of borrowed music (although these selections suited the mood).

Bengalis are well known for their literature, music, and drama and this was a good example of their talent. We only hope that such good productions could be staged in Hindi where it could be viewed and appreciated by a much wider audience of Asians based in Chicago. From what we hear, such a possibility may materialize in future.

The group had performed the same play on July 21 at "Banga Mela 2001", a Bengali cultural festival held in St. Louis, involving the Midwestern states of the U.S. The Bengali Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC) had sent the play there to represent the Bengali community in Chicago.

INDIAN REPORTER, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2001