On Sunday, October 22, Avignan Bhattacharya is all set to welcome the audience with his theatre group Rosikata’s two productions- Jyanto Hamlet and The Island. While Jyanto Hamlet is a re-staging of an old play, this will be the latter’s first show.
Director Avignan Bhattacharya, an alumnus of theatre groups Nandikar and Fourth Bell Theatres, has written and directed The Island keeping in mind the ideological differences that group theatres went through. “The play is about a theatre group who survive a chartered plane crash somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest. How they survive there, the strain in relationships between a student, the teacher and a group of other students is how the plot unwraps.” The Island, a satire, throws light upon the loopholes of group theatre and why the format didn’t work out, says Avignan.
This is the eighth staging of Rosikata group’s second production Jyanto Hamlet. “Yet another satire, this play sees a theatre director sitting, when a boy approaches and wants to audition for Hamlet. As the audition progresses, the director realises that there are some similarities between Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark and the actor. While at first, the director feels that the actor has no interest in Shakespeare or the play, only to realise that the latter was born to play the role of Hamlet. The director doesn’t realise who the actor is, or if he is playing a trick. How the former figures out who the guy is and what happens next forms the next part of the play.” Jyanto Hamlet is an adaptation of Richard James’ I Am Hamlet.
Actor Rishav Basu, known for his films Bhotbhoti, Olpo Holeo Sotti, and Aparajito and web series like Srikanto, Mahabharat Murders and so on will be back on stage with Jyanto Hamlet after a break of four years. “Rosikata is almost like a family to me. The members are either my friends or juniors from the theatre whom I have worked with. Jyanto Hamlet is a very different take from the Shakespearean play, making it all the more interesting. That’s what intrigued me as well to do the play."
What: Rosikata presents Jyanto Hamlet and The Island
Where: Gyan Manch
When: October 22, 6.30 pm onwards