Badi Bua Ji

The Play

Set in the 1960’s, this play moves from comic relief to comic relief…! The relief, however, one shall realize, is from the rather serious determination and steadfast passion that a fairly large crowd of young theatre enthusiasts nurtures in its attempt to stage a play that is meant to open in two days’ time. Their dream of doing well is hindered by an aged matron who also happens to be the aunt of the heroine of the play. Theatre or no theatre, acting or no acting, lies or no lies, this generation or that generation – you shall join these dilemmatic crossroads with the characters of the play to partake in a roller coaster ride of love, unity, traditions and passion for the stage. And yes…they finally staged the play successfully!

 

Director’s Note

Can a language have what has come to be called ‘purity’? Is accent a part of one’s identity or does it exists outside an individual’s personality, therefore demanding avoidance, removal, extermination? Is language necessary for communication, to build one’s identity? Our body carries its culture with it – a fact that no one can escape. I wanted to incorporate our multifarious cultural codes entwining and entangling with each other within the context of the play. Dealing with this concern seemed exciting and through the process a Garbha Nataka i.e. a play within a play, could generate. You shall find, like in our lives, that many events take place simultaneously throughout the play. This simultaneity is what I see as an important characteristic emerging within my performance-making process. The structure of the play, and the structure of the space-design for the play, both carry strong threads of simultaneity. Do not be disturbed by it! One does not get to witness everything happening around one’s life! Maybe, one does not need to. Let’s be as realistic as possible! So…. Lights, Sound, Make-Up, Costume … Action….!

 

The Director

Sagnik Chakraborty has done the three-year diploma course with specialization in Design and Direction from National School of Drama, New Delhi. He has been an active theatre worker from Siliguri, West Bengal. Now he is working as a freelance designer and director.

 

The Playwright

Badal Sircar was a dramatist and theatre director from Bengal. He was the founder of Shatabdi, a theatre company founded in 1976. His plays Ebong Indrajit, Basi Khabar and Saari Raat are regarded as classics and are timeless. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968, Padmashri in1972, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1997. His real name was Sudhindra Sircar, and he was born on July 15, 1925 in Kolkata. Badal studied Engineering and Literature. His earlier works were comedies, and later he wrote on serious subjects. After writing the landmark play Ebong Indrajit, he wrote a series of extraordinary plays like Baaki Itihaas (1965), Pralap (1966), Tringsha Shatabdi (1966), Pagla Ghoda (1967), and Shesh Naai (1969).  

 

The Group

This play is being presented as a part of National School of Drama’s graduate showcase (class of 2017), which aims to provide a platform for emerging theatre practitioners, allowing them to share their work with a wider audience.   

 

Cast & Credit

Badi Buaji                       Rukmini Sircar

Yogin                              Manohar Pandey

Anu                                Suman Purty

Shambhu                       Vivek Emmaneni

Nitai Da                          Niranjan Nath

Phuphaji                         Rohit Jain

Ananth                            Abhinav Lucky Pateriya

Pratima                          Jina Baishya

Munni                             Pallavi Jadho

Dhruvesh                       Lanuakam

Shashaank                    Ujjawal Yadav

Mr. Sen                          Baljeet Singh

Mrs. Sen                        Swati Dubey

Girl                                 Abhilasha B. Paul

Set Design                    Sagnik Chakraborty

Light Design                  Ujjawal Yadav

Operation                      Aruja Srivastava

Music Composition       Sayan Chakraborty, Abhinav Lucky Pateriya

Lyrics                            Divyangana Sharma, Sayan Chkraborty,

Vocal                            Shruti Sahu, Sukanya Chattopadhyay

                                     Lanuakam, Sayan Chkraborty

Percussion                     Sayan Sarkar

Sound Engineer             Sukanya Chattopadhyay

Costume Assistance      Goge Bam

Stage Manager              Greeney Francis, Debarati Sikdar

 

Playwright                Badal Sircar

Translator                Pratibha Agarwal

Director                   Sagnik Chakraborty