CORNER PLOT of Rangalok: a renewed presentation of a genuine satire

 

CORNER PLOT of Rangalok: a renewed presentation of a genuine satire (staged on 5 July 2026)

 

After quite a long time it was enjoying to witness an example of an archetypal satire, that punches holes into the façade of a supposedly fool-proof and faultless societal and administrative system. And it does this with any speck of innuendo towards any political party. The stupidities, the pretenses and loads of unethical vices that are embedded in the systems themselves stand bear open as Rangalok’s latest play CORNER PLOT unfolded on the Giris Mancha stage. This very play by Loknath Bandopadhyay was staged around the beginning of this century by Rangalok under the direction of the helmsman of the group Shyamal Chakraborty, who even acted in the pivotal role. This time it is a renewed presentation of the same play but in a new package that fits well with the changed time.   

A typical ‘common man’ Joydeb suddenly gets to own a single storied vacant house in the suburb as a munificent act of a rich well-wisher. The house happens to be on a corner plot, and so his wife and his two daughters and son are all very happy. He does a few renovation works and arranges a house-warming ceremony. A priest is brought and the puja is performed in full earnestness. None of their relatives nor friends are informed nor invited. But two of Joydeb’s office colleagues get to know and arrive there to join the party. This puts Joydeb in a very embarrassing situation. But some bigger surprise was waiting for Joydeb’s family. The Prime Minister was supposed to come to that place to inaugurate a fertilizer plant that has been built nearby. The ruling party wants to welcome the PM and felicitate him. The opposition party on the other hand wants to stage a protest and show him black flags. Both the groups plan to erect their stages in the compound of the house as it has an advantage of being at the corner position of the main road through which the PM’s motorcade would be going. Joydeb had consented to both the groups for he was helpless. Then comes the PM’s security force, and according to them as the house is in a very strategic position, they would take over the house for the day. This lands Joydeb in a boiling soup. Meanwhile taking advantage of this doldrum and chaos, the boyfriend of the elder daughter comes in the garb of a terrorist to visit his sweetheart. Joydeb decides to abandon the house for the time being with his family. They are ultimately saved by the benevolent well-wisher.  

A very well spun comedy is presented brilliantly by Shyamal with all the resources needed to make the production a success. It is said that timing is utmost important in comedy acting. But this is true, I believe in those parts where speech is less and silent physical acting has more space. But in a verbose play, comedy can be effected if the actors can grasp the comic sequences through which the playwright wanted to get to the point and for which he has given his dialogues a particular structure. This results in the expressions and gestures of the actors, that eventually leads the spectators to break into feats of laughter. Sanjeeb Sarkar has simply excelled in his presentation of a totally confused Joydeb. The viewers have rarely seen such a flawless comic acting. His expressions, his delivery of lines with perfect scanning, together with immaculate timing in sequences that required him to have physical precisions. He could imbibe the joy with which he performed his role into the spectators, and that is what acting is all about. Shyamal had done this character in the earlier version. It was good to see that veteran Aparna Biswas as the wife Menoka has kept her skill intact. The well-wisher Sadananda was aptly portrayed by Shyamal Sarkar in a flamboyant colour. Abhisek Roy as the son, Shiropa Roy and Puja Dutta as the two daughters, Swaraj Dutta as the priest, and Baishakhi Kundu and Sourav Kundu as the two colleagues did their respective parts as directed. Biswajit Ghosh Majumdar as the boyfriend demands a round of applause for his performance. In sundry roles Gopal Ghosh, Sisir Ranjan Roy, Bibhas Banerjee and Swarnabha Goswami were neat in their acting, and with just a simple change in their attire and in their gaits, Shyamal could very well separate the two political groups. And that tells how intent was Shyamal to put up a commendable presentation.             

It was heartening to see Shyamal has kept the original stage design done by Ranajit Chakraborty, with Sudip Sanyal not adding any extra lights. Likewise, Swapan Bandopadhyay too kept the background score unaltered. Make-up work by Biddhatrideb Sarkar and the artwork by Nilabha Chattopadhyay deserve appreciation.

 

Since the viewing of this play on 5 July I did not see any play till date, because of some unavoidable reasons.

So, I have no other plays in hand for discussion. I hope to once again start haunting the theatre halls very soon, and would be happy to share my thoughts about them with you.

Till then I will be blogging on other topics related to this world.

So, see you soon.

Cheerio….e original stage design done by Ranajit Chakraborty, with Sudip Sanyal not adding any extra lights. Likewise, Swapan Bandopadhyay too kept the background score unaltered. Make-up work by Biddhatrideb Sarkar and the calligraphic work by Nilabha Chattopadhyay deserve appreciation.