>Monkbot at 20:02, 14 January 2021

2021-01-14T20:02:32Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Culture of Bengal}}
The '''group theatre of Kolkata''' refers to a tradition in theatres in the [[India]]n city [[Kolkata]], which developed in the 1940s as an alternative to entertainment-oriented theatres.<ref name=heierstad39>{{Cite thesis|type= [[Cand.polit.]]|title= Nandikar: Staging Globalisation in Kolkata and Abroad|url= http://folk.uio.no/gheierst/nandikar.pdf|format= PDF|last= Geir|first= Heierstad|year= 2003|publisher= University of Oslo|access-date= 9 March 2012|pages= 39–48|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060512065317/http://folk.uio.no/gheierst/nandikar.pdf|archive-date= 12 May 2006}}</ref> As opposed to commercial theatres, group theatre is "a theatre that is not professional or commercial",<ref name=heierstad39/> characterized by its tendency for experimentation in theme, content and production,<ref name=heierstad39/> and its aim of using the [[proscenium]] stage to highlight social messages, rather than having primarily making-money objectives.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Malini |editor1-first= Jasodhara|editor1-last=Bagchi |title= The changing status of women in West Bengal, 1970–2000: the challenge ahead |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1Xq8FARrFKUC&dq|access-date= 10 February 2012 |year=2005 |publisher=Sage Publications |location= New Delhi |isbn= 978-0-7619-3242-0 |pages=99–100 |chapter= Culture}}</ref><ref name=zarilli>{{cite book|title= Theatre Histories: An Introduction| first1=Phillip |last1=Zarilli |first2=Bruce |last2=McConachie|first3= Gary Jay|last3= Williams|last4= Sorgenfrei|first4=Carol Fisher|editor-last=Williams|editor-first=Gary Jay|publisher= Rotledge|year=2010|orig-year=2006|location=Abingdon, UK|isbn=978-0-415-46223-5 |pages=429–430|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z88LLjzoWqQC|access-date=9 March 2012}}</ref>

==Indian People's Theatre Association and ''Nabanna''==
{{Main|Indian People's Theatre Association|Nabanna (play)}}

The play ''Nabanna'' in 1944 is said to be the birth of group theatres in Kolkata.<ref name=heierstad39/> ''Nabanna'' was written by [[Bijon Bhattacharya]], who also co-directed it with [[Sambhu Mitra]]. They were both active members of the [[Indian People's Theatre Association]], the association of [[leftist]] theatre-artists.<ref name=heierstad39/> In the commercial theatres at that time, entertainment was the sole purpose.<ref name=heierstad39/> However, the time was tumultuous—the [[Indian independence movement]] was strengthening on the backdrop of the World War 2, and the plight of [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal province]] was further worsened by the [[Bengal famine of 1943]].<ref name=heierstad39/> Activists and thinkers attempted to use the media of theatre to highlight the plight of the people, and to stage a form of artistic protest.

In this backdrop, the drama ''Nabanna'' portrayed a group of peasants as victim of the famine. The peasants had to leave their village due to famine, and they traveled to Kolkata with the hope for survival in the big city. However, they faced a series of crises and eventually got "...reduced to the most abject acknowledge poverty in Kolkata, where they develop a political awareness of their suffering".<ref name=heierstad39/> Another production of the Indian People's Theatre Association was ''Jobanbondi''.

==Notion of group==

Prior to the start of group theatre movement, the commercial theatre of Kolkata strived to attract audiences based on star-power. Popular actors such as Sisir Bhaduri, Ahindra Chowdhury and others were considered consistent crowd-pullers. The group theatre tried to depart from this paradigm.<ref name=ghosh/> Instead of superstars, the emphasis in group theatre was on the group—which was commonly an amalgamation of non-professional participants who identified themselves with the social motives of the movement and participated in the production out of passion for the art.<ref name=ghosh/> The attempt was to make ''gononatyo'' (people's theatre).<ref name=ghosh/>

==Groups after Indian People's Theatre Association ==

The Indian People's Theatre Association dispersed in 1947. However, the principal members continued to carry its legacy by forming several groups with similar ideology. [[Ahindra Chowdhuri]], [[Sombhu Mitra]] and [[Tripti Mitra]] were the leading members of the group ''[[Bohurupee]]''. ''Raktakarabi'', ''Tahar Nam Ti Ranjana'', ''Char Adhyay'' (written by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]) were some of the earlier productions of [[Bohurupee]]. [[Utpal Dutt]] led another faction of artists and went to create classics like ''Tiner Talowar'' and ''Kallol''. In 1950s and 1960s, many critically acclaimed productions were staged, which used international literature including the works of [[Anton Chekhov]], [[Luigi Pirandello]], [[Henrik Ibsen]] and [[Bertolt Brecht]].<ref name=zarilli/><ref name=ghosh/> According to one critic, the productions had the "right mix of democratic politics — with certain groups drifting towards a revolutionary rhetoric — and humane ideals, based on literature drawn from the world over".<ref name=ghosh/>

Notable group theatres include the Little Theatre Group, Gandharba, Theatre Commune, Amulya Natyagosthi, Calcutta Theatre, [[Nandikar]].<ref name=ghosh>{{cite journal|last1=Ghosh |first1=Parimal |year=2012 |title=Rise and fall of Calcutta's group theatre: the end of a political dream |journal=Economic & Political Weekly |volume=47 |issue=10 |pages=36–42 |publisher=Economic and Political Weekly |issn=0012-9976 |url=http://epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/17211.pdf |format=PDF |access-date=9 March 2012 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
[[Ghola Kaalmukur]]

==Prominent theatre personalities==

Some notable personalities associated with group theatre movement in Kolkata are as follows:<ref name=ghosh/><ref name=popindia>{{cite book|title=Pop culture India!: media, arts, and lifestyle|last=Kasbekar|first=Asha|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year= 2006|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=9781851096367|pages=83–85}}</ref><ref name=leiterenc>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: A-N|last=Leiter|first=Samuel|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2007|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn= 9780313335303|page=260}}</ref>
*[[Ajitesh Bandopadhyay]]
*[[Badal Sarkar]]
*[[Sombhu Mitra]]: founder of [[Bohurupee]], director
*[[Rudraprasad Sengupta]]: associated with the group [[Nandikar]]
*[[Tripti Mitra]]: wife of [[Sombhu Mitra]], [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] winner was mainly a worker of [[Bohurupee]]
*[[Usha Ganguly]], founded [[Rangakarmee]] theatre group in 1976
*[[Utpal Dutt]]: authored, directed and acted in several plays
*[[Saumya Majumder]]: founded Sandarbha in 1977
*[[Kaushik Sen]]: founded [[Swapnasandhani]] in 1992
*[[Debasish Dutta]]: founded Institute of Factual Theatre Arts in 1998
*[[Arun Kumar Sarkar]]: founded Green Amateur Group in 1961
*[[Arindam Saha]], founded [[Natyachetana'03 (Theatre for mass education)]] in 2002
*[[Srideep Chatterjee]]: founded [[AKTO]] in August 2013
*[[Nilkantha Sengupta]]: founded Theatre Commune
*[[Biswarup Chattopadhyay]]: founded [[Dum Dum Biswarupam]] in 2013
*[[Chandra Gupta (activist)|[Chandra Gupta]]: founded [[Aghraner Nabanna]] in 1999
*[[Deep-Gunjan (Dipankar Bose & Gunjan Ganguly)]]: founded [[Ghola Kaalmukur]] in 2012
*[[Pinki Ghosh Dastidar]]: founded [[Sampan]] in 2011
*[[Sumit Dasgupta & Jagdeep Das]]: founded [[Ballygunge Aarushi]] in 2012
*[[Avishek DebRoy, Ahitagni, Rajib Banerjee]]: founded [[Drishti Ekhon]] in 2013
*[[Sanjay Chakraborty]]: founded [[Ultadanga Dashkatha]] in 2011

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Kolkata topics}}
{{Bengali Theatre}}

[[Category:Bengali theatre]]
[[Category:Theatre in Kolkata]]
[[Category:History of theatre]]

Group theatre of Kolkata - Revision history

>Monkbot at 20:02, 14 January 2021