Dahananta Directed By: Debasis Majumdar

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Dahananta

Synopsis

This is a tale of a lower middle class septuagenarian couple Akinchan and Sabarni- lonely, isolated and deserted. Their elder son Abhirup, a methodical careerist lives in Oklahoma with his family. Their daughter, Ratnasree and son-in-law Romit, who stay in Delhi, can be called selfish, covetous and hypocrites. Their youngest son, Dhritirup, an extremist yields to his political belief of terrorism by sacrificing himself in a police encounter. Grief engulfs the couple. They mourn Dhritirup’s death and keep the sorrow within themselves. Abhirup and Ratnasree avoid their parents and gradually, the couple becomes more alienated and insecure.

Their loneliness and isolation compels them to think, what will happen to either of them if one of them dies?   Who will provide them a shelter or lend a hand of support? Such questions bother them, thereby making their life a burden. Both of them decide to consume sleeping pills. But was that inevitable?  Another fold of this play raises a question on the future of our socio-political scenario. The quasi-fascist politics that prevails under the veil of democracy, the terrorism or the ideology of Rabindranath Tagore to search humanity within one’s self – which one of these ideologies will survive?

About The Director

Shri Debasis Majumdar grew to adulthood in Kolkata amidst the political turbulence of the early 1970s. Starting as a poet in Bengali, he found his true calling as a dramatist with the production of Dansagar (1975) based on Premchand’s well-known story Kafan. Shri Majumdar formed the theatre group ‘Sudrak’ in 1977 and launched its first production Amitakshar in the same year. The play subsequently won the West Bengal Natya Akademi’s Award (1980) and was translated and performed in several Indian languages. In Hindi, Amitakshar was named as Tamrapatra. Out of some forty plays and numerous critical essays written by him, Samabartan, Ishabasya, Asamapta, Chandalini, Pratinidhi, Swapna Santati, Rangamati and Dahananta are some of his most notable plays. Shri Majumdar has been the recipient of various awards like the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2005) and State Natya Akademi Award for his plays, Amitakshar, Swapna Santati and Rangamati.