Bengali theatre with its copious tradition started as a protest against the British imperialisms. The socio political and financial issues were clearly illustrated amidst the roopaka and natya of the Bengali theatre. Gradually developed a realistic art form where the unedited realities of life were ideally portrayed. Changes came all over and developed the contemporary Bengali theatre to cater to the need of the society.

Badal Sarkar tried to come out of the limitations of dramatic and theatrical conventions, which were developed in Bengal. So, he brought the aid of lighting and sets and emphasized on non-verbal ways of communication to break down the city-village divide. He could not bring out much effect but still his impact in the Bengali theatre cannot be denied.

The main hub of Bengali theatre is West Bengal. But with the coming of Television, Cinema and multiplexes, theatre in Bengal has lost its worth as it used to be earlier. The citizens of the state have started running in the busy life and the young generation is losing any interest in the theatres. But efforts are not discontinued to revive the theatre culture in the state as well as all over the country. Manoj Mitra, Mohit Chattopadhyay, Ashok Mukhopadhyay, Ramaprasad Banik and Debasis Majumdar are few of the worth mentioned names, who have worked towards the renewal of the Bengali theatre with competence and originality in their productions. But the number of the plays remained small. Moreover, there were no young actors to attract and electrify the audience. Just for the sake of the big and old names like Utpal Dutt, Kumar Roy, Tripti Mitra, Asit Mukhopadhyay, Rudraprasad Sengupta, Bibhas Chakrabarti etc people turned towards the theatre.

Apart from actors, the Bengali theatre is lacking in the other areas like stage lighting, scenography. Tapas Sen is still called up to devise and handle the lighting and Khaled Chowdhury is persuaded to design the sets. But only the scarcity of actors cannot be blamed because most of the theatre groups are yet hesitant to explore into untrodden ways and experiment with budding talents. Again, the case is not same everywhere because now many of the young talented actors are venturing into theatres. This is because many of the educational institutions and Non-governmental organizations in Bengal are now encouraging theatre for various purposes. The schools and colleges organize many theatre and drama competitions among the students on different occasions. The NGOs sometimes appoint the theatre group to communicate any social or health message because people can still relate to this medium. For example, to make people aware of the dangerous AIDS disease, Bengali theatre has played an important role. The political parties also assign some theatre group to spread their messages and to raise their election issues. The corporate houses are also using the theatre groups to promote their services or products.

The Bengali theatre`s revival has one more reason and that is the theatre groups have now started taking common public issues and problems. They present in such a way that the audience can find interest in it and can relate to their daily life. They now take up the Bengali novels also and present it in English because most of the young generation is now inclined towards that language. Thus both the purpose is served. The younger generation of playwrights, actors and technicians of Bengali theatre are now really trying hard to break the conventional rule and bring out new creative work. But still it is very challenging to do good urban Bengali theatre. It is much easier to do plays with a rustic flavour and with people from villages as actors because it sells in abroad also.

The Bengali theatres have now decided to organize a drama festival every year. That means theatre will come out of the circles of the clubs of the city and the theatergoers can expect more of Bengali theatre.

Bengali theatre that started as a protest against the British imperialism gained much alterations to achieve today`s modish facet and even today Bengali theatre is recognized as a distinct art form.

Related Articles on Theatre