Mitrapuran: December 2007

Theatron

Presents

Mitrapuran

Original Play: Mitrachi Goshta by Vijay Tendulkar

Directed by: Trina Nileena Banerjee

Translation from English: Salil Bandyopadhyay

Ideas and Intentions

Theatron’s new production Mitrapuran takes us back to an indefinite time in India’s history - a time in the last century when homosexual desire, in our country and elsewhere, was still marked by the absence of a language that could express it. It was, in fact, an absence in itself - an empty space where identities, personal histories and lives were lost. ‘Political’ history wrote itself without admitting this loss –without acknowledging the presence of women and men who desired, let alone those who desired differently. And even as a nation moved towards Freedom, stories remained untold. Identities were wiped out. History cleansed itself, ran on clearly-blameless tracks. Political freedom was defined alongside what was deemed to be neither political nor deserving of freedom.

What remained was memory.

Mitrapuran is one such memory.

Simply, pages from a diary one is compelled to listen to. A story that one man is compelled to tell.

Our sutradhar is Srikant Marathe (Bapu) - a brooding, middle-aged man - who tells us the story of Sumitra Dev, a girl he used to know in college several decades ago. In those days, Bapu was a gawky student from out of town (the town is Poona, we conjecture). Sumitra came from a rich family that lived in a bungalow near the Deccan Gymkhana, one of Poona’s posh localities.

Bapu and Mitra become friends over chai and cycle rides. Days go by. Mitra is loud, confident and too much ‘like a man’ for anyone’s comfort. Then one day, Mitra falls in love with a girl in her class. She is elated, exuberant; but Bapu is scared for her. Bapu’s story takes us through the following years, years that are now etched in his memory – years that lead finally to a horrifying end.

Mitrapuran uses music and visuals to create an era that has gone by. The music on an old valve radio takes Bapu back to his youth. It is to him the only marker of that time. With Bapu, we listen to old LPs on the radio – the thumris of Rasoolan Bai, songs by K.L. Saigal and Noorjehan. The music in itself is the map of a time; something that helps chart a memory that threatens to grow increasingly hazy. The vocals by Sudeshna Dutta Chaudhuri capture for us some of the pearls of North Indian classical music – renditions that promise to stay with you long after the play is over. Snapshots of Bapu’s memory and fantasy appear as images in the performing space - which in itself is fragmentary and dislocated. The stills are captured by young documentary film maker Debolina and the performing space is designed by the very young art director Abhijay Gupta.

Mitrapuran is a play by Vijay Tendulkar. The translation is by Salil Bandyopadhyay.

Cast and Credits:

Playwright: Vijay Tendulkar
Translation from English: Salil Bandyopadhyay
Director: Trina Nileena Banerjee
Art Director: Abhijay Gupta Photography: Debalina
Vocals: Sudeshna Dutta Chaudhuri
Lights: Badal Das
Research Team: Uttaran Das Gupta
Assisted By: Arnab Banerji, Nandini Das

Production Team:

Music Operation: Uttaran Das Gupta
Assistance In Recording and Compilation: Arnab Banerji and Mirna Guha

Sets Design: Abhijay Gupta Sets: Ajit Roy
Assisted By: Uttaran Das Gupta , Arnab Banerji, Dana Roy, Prakriti Dutta Mukherjee

Stills Operation: Aditya Vikram Das
Sequence Created By: Abhijay Gupta
Assistance in Shoot: Mirna Guha, Athena Mondal, Uttaran Das Gupta, Aditya Vikram Das, Arnab Banerji

Props: Dana Roy, Raii Mukherjee

Costume and Make Up: Shuktara Lal, Mirna Guha
Assisted By: Athena Mondal

Publicity Asst: Aditya Vikram Das

Cast:

Mitra: Dola Chakrabarti
Bapu: Joyraj Bhattacharjee
Pandey: Arnab Banerji
Nama: Prakriti Dutta Mukherjee
Dehlvi: Abhijay Gupta

Chaa-wala: Uttaran Das Gupta

Captain Singh: Aditya Vikram Das

Waiter at Army Club: Arka Alam

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank the following people and organizations for their invaluable advice, help and support:

Dr. B.B. Chatterjee, Dr. Paromita Chakravarti, Dr. Rajarshi Dasgupta, Dr. Mondal, Saswati Biswas, Nagenda’s Studio, Dolly’s Tea Shop, Anindya Hajra and the Pratyay Gender Trust, Dr. Ananda Lal and Jadavpur University Department of English, Dr. Amlan Dasgupta and the Jadavpur University Archive of North Indian Classical Music, Lake Gardens People’s Association, Anya Theatre Bhavan, Geetabithika, Vikram Iyengar, Maharashtra Mandal, Sunayana Roy, Mr. Sumanto Mukhopadhyay, Mrs. Anuradha Maitra, Aniruddha Maitra, Mr. Arup Das, Nandini Das, Sumit and Katy Lai Roy, Mr. Ranajay Gupta and Mrs. Mitali Gupta, Pradipta Sarkar, Ritam Sengupta, Debolina Seth, Mr. Dwijen Banerjee, and others.

Mitrapuran

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