JOJOK’S E AABORAN

JOJOK’S  E AABORAN

For a theatre production to score at the box-office it seems the cast should include names that can fetch money regardless of what is being offered on the stage. This is shocking as we the Bengali viewers boast of being intellectually an advanced creed! This was evident in the staging of E AABORAN by Jojok where hardly a handful of viewers were present to witness a very neatly designed theatre production that could be an ideal example of a perfect theatrical presentation for the students of drama. The students of theatre could have had a first-hand experience of the perfect working relationship that a director would get to enjoy with the playwright. If the dramatist is equipped with the sense of the stage and the art of transforming the written play on to the stage, then only can the director work out his scheme of presenting the play. Ujjwal Chattopadyay is one of such distinguished playwrights of the present times whose sense of the stage is pretty strong and so his plays have scored more success than others. The veteran actor-director Dulal Lahiri has been able to exercise a lot of his imagination and acumen, thus making the production a grand success.

The story centres round an elderly couple who after losing their son tries to hold the hands of anyone who comes across in their life as their own. Dulal Lahiri’s acting is a relic of the great classical form of stage acting which unfortunately is in the wane now-a-days. It was a delight watching him moving about in a stoop with his hands locked at the back and speaking out in a baritone with all the modulations and intonations that very intensely construct an aged man who though has lost his son fights to stay put in a make-belief world.  The viewers get the bonus of his songs which were a treat for them, no doubt. A number of exquisitely designed sequences would stay for long in the memories of those fortunate ones who were present to see the drama. Uttiyo Jana’s lights had an important role to play and Swapan Banopadhyay’s music acceded to the ambience of the play. Debabrata Maity’s stage was a bit too cumbersome and the kitchen reminded one of the railway platform tea-stalls. But this apart, Jojok’s E AABORAN is an important production worthy of taking note of.