Soumitra, Debshankar set to travel abroad

Theatre personalities Soumitra Mitra and Debshankar Halder are all set to visit the US for their plays, Ekla

Samrat

and Kallu Mama, respectively. While Ekla Samrat, a Purba Paschim production, is directed by Manish Mitra, Kallu Mama is an Ushnik production. The duo will leave on August 28 and return on September 18.

“We will be performing in Nashville, Houston, Dallas and New Jersey. The first show has been organised in Nashville by Calcutta University Alumni Association. The next stop is Houston, where we will have another Bengali fest. Meanwhile, Bengalis in Dallas will be commemorating Sunil Gangopadhyay’s birth anniversary. There are four shows of these two plays. Besides, we will be staging a few recitation events and conduct workshops too,” said Soumitra.

Ekla Samrat — the solo performance by Soumitra — has been earlier staged in other countries too. “We took the play to

Paris

and two other cities in Poland. It has been dearly appreciated there,” the actor-director said.

Before Ekla Samrat, Purba Paschim’s earlier play, Athhai Jol, had garnered wide appreciation. While the play is adapted from

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay

’s novel, it was directed by Bratya Basu.

With the production of Ahthoi Jol, theatre group Purba Paschim paid tribute to all three Bandyopadhyays of

Bengali literature

— Manik, Tarashankar and Bibhutibhushan — who are also known as the Bandyopadhyay trio. “Earlier, we staged Manik’s Diba Ratrir Kabya and Tarashankar’s Hansuli Banker Upakatha, and then we staged Bibhutibhushan’s Othoi Jol. I am glad that we could honour these three stalwarts through our adaptations. Also, interestingly, each of these three novels touches upon or delves into the emotional crisis caused by extramarital love. We are amazed to see the way such crisis is handled by these three novelists in their works,” said Soumitra.