Festival director Sayandev Bhattacharya said that this festival will be a collage of plays. Photo courtesy: Special arrangement
Four plays will be staged on July 20 as part of the Smaranik Theatre Festival 2024. “The plays will be presented as Show 1 and Show 2 with a break in between,” says festival director Sayandeb Bhattacharya, who is also the founder of the theatre group.
Smaranik, which Sayandeb says is something to remember, was founded in 2012 as a Bengali theatre group in Bengaluru. “Smaranik Theatre Festival started in 2013 and this is our 11th edition. The festival and the group are the brainchild of not just me but all of us, as theatre is always a group activity.”
Smaranike has produced six plays, organised 10 theatre festivals, 10 theatre workshops and four theatre lectures in the past decade. Sayandeb says the group had 11 core members when it was founded. “Only six are active now as the rest have moved out of Bengaluru. The festival is held every year to showcase some of the best Bengali plays in Bengaluru.”
Sayandeb says the theatre festival is also a way to celebrate the group’s anniversary, which is at the end of June. “It is not always possible to hold the festival on a fixed date. We aim to celebrate the festival between July and August. We aim to promote the view that there is no language barrier in theatre. We watch plays in every language and I believe theatre is a universal language.”
Sayandeb says the other purpose of organising the theatre festival is to bring plays directed by experienced theatre directors and actors. “With Smaranik, they can watch Bengali plays in Bengaluru.”
Sayandeb says the one-day festival aims to serve as a cultural platform. “It will have a variety of food stalls, books and music. There will be Bengali books and cuisine as well as cuisine, books and music from other regions.”
Sayandeb started doing theatre at the age of five in Kolkata and has worked with stalwarts like Bibhas Chakraborty and his father Meghnad Bhattacharya. “I moved to Bengaluru in 2005 and took a break for a while to focus on studies. Then I started doing theatre again in 2007,” says the 42-year-old theatre artiste who lives in Mahadevapura.
Show 1 will start Sayam-er-Alo, Smaranieke’s new play, directed by Sayandeb and staged at 3 p.m. The second play, There are celebrations in the darknessWritten and directed by Sangeet Natak Akademi award winner Bibhas Chakraborty, the play features theatre stalwarts such as Meghnad Bhattacharya and Seema Mukherjee. “The play depicts the light of hope emerging from the source of darkness in a middle-class Bengali family.”
Sayandeb Bhattacharya | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bander Dosh Day (5.30 p.m.) thereafter Tomer Ami The show will be staged as part of Part 2.”Monkey… The play will also feature veteran film and theatre actor Rajat Dutta and revolves around the life of Subhabrata whose life changes completely when he moves in with his wife and daughter to a small two-room flat in Behala. How they face unexpected situations and what they learn forms the essence of the play.”
Tomar, The character is played by Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-winning actor Debshankar Halder. “It is a Bengali adaptation of Ewald Fleischer’s play,” says Sayandeb take me in your handsThe drama takes us into the world of books in Kolkata’s College Street and portrays an unusual love story between Ajit, a highly educated man and a sophisticated bookstore owner, and Maya, a young salesgirl who lives in the slums but is hungry for knowledge.
Smaranik Theatre Festival 2024 will be held on July 20 at MLR Convention Centre, JP Nagar (near Brigade Millennium) from 3 pm onwards. Tickets are available on BookMyShow or call 9741408132.
