Smitten by the festive bug

the fourth day of the nandikar’s first national women’s theatre festival saw plays by two of the city’s leading theatre groups. jara brishtite bhijechhilo by gandhar and shanu roy chowdhury by nandikar were staged on sunday evening. however, none of them were new productions.
rudraprasad sengupta said, "i always remain apprehensive of the response to such old productions." yet sunday evening saw a full house at the ranu mukherjee auditorium."perhaps there’s something in the festive spirit," he added.
those who came over had different opinions though. sarbani roy, a theatre buff, said, "plays like jara brishtite bhijechhilo never get old."
is it the poetry of joy goswami or bijaylakshmi barman’s rendition that manages to draw the audience? rahul roy, a spectator, said, "i think more poems should me rendered as a play. it gives the poem a different dimension."
however, a number of theatre lovers can’t make it to the auditoriums because of work pressure. suranjana maitra, another spectator, said, "after a hectic schedule at office and home, i hardly get time for plays." even during the festival she can’t make it apart from sundays. and hence is hardly left with any choice as far as watching plays are concerned.
"when i’m coming back to the theatre house after a year or two, it hardly matters whether i’ve seen the play before or not," said mriganko majumder, adding, "the fact that i’m back during the theatre festival makes a difference." it’s at this point that sengupta’s maxim comes true — the festive mood does matter!