March 22, 2025 02:05 am (IST)
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Shriek of Silence hosts Merchant of Venice
Kolkata, Apr 7 (IBNS): Youth theatre group Shriek of Silence recently staged its latest production of ‘Merchant of Venice-The Kolkata Musical’, at the Kalamandir Auditorium as the closing act of the Kolkata Youth Theatre Festival organized by the same group, here.
The play was directed by Suprovo Tagore.
Antonio became Ananta Roy Chowdhury, Shylock - Burrabazar’s Sharmaji, Bassanio was Bishwajit Mukherjee and Portia was a representative of women’s emancipation group in Kolkata of 1970s.
The play highlighted the significant changes in the cultural strata starting from the Land reforms Act passed by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, the immigration by the Baniyas from Rajasthan to set up their trade, the Baby Fodder scam in Burrabazar.
The play revolved around the courtroom sequence which came back thrice and the rest of the plot came as flashbacks.
Interestingly, the Lady of Justice was replaced by the ‘Sleeping Owl’ as depicted in HaJaBaRaLa by Sukumar Roy to depict that the law always sleeps.
Two original rickshaws also constituted the otherwise courtroom set with a full panorama of Kolkata in the background.
‘Kolkata Tumi Bulei Bhora' (Oh Kolkata! You are full of mistakes) by Dada Thakur was the opening song of the play.
Paradise by Coldplay, Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer and Bhalobashi by Mohiner Ghoraguli were the tracks used in the play.
A special radio note was used which was recorded by eminent elocutionist and news reader, Pranati Tagore.
Suprovo Tagore, the director of the musical said, "The 1970s was the period when Reniassance started happening in Bengal once again. It was a phase of social change, most relevant to The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare."
A twist in the last scene showed that Sharmaji and Ananta join hands in business. "Kolkata is the city of joy. It is a city which accepts everyone," said Suprovo who is planning to do more shows of this play later this year.
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