SPARTACUS

admin Bengali December 9, 2024 Comments Closed

Director: Rokeya And Malay
Playwright: Malay Ray
Group: Purbanga Step’n Stage, Kolkata
Language: Bengali
Duration: 2 hrs

The Play

In every era and society there exist forces that want to rob human beings’ basic freedom and create slaves out of free spirits. One such attempt can be observed in the Roman Empire. Rome was a strange place where the most advanced political system- Democracy, and the most primitive class system- Slavery, co-existed. But one rose against this disparity – Spartacus. He made people dream of an impartial society where all will be equal – where there will be no classes, no masters and no slaves. But the Roman Senate fought with their utmost rigour to suppress this thought. A fierce battle lasting several years managed to kill Spartacus’s body. But were they able to kill the idea of freedom and equality? Or did this collective consciousness resound back multiplying manifold in ardency? The answer lies in our play – Spartacus.

Director’s Note

What is Spartacus? Who is Spartacus? Is he a gladiator? A freedom fighter? Or is he a voice within each conscious individual that unconsciously cries for freedom and equality? A voice that wants to shout out loud against oppression, but is silenced by selfish forces. Forces so farcical that they have chosen gentility over civility, pleasure over happiness. They are privy to food but cannot feel hunger. They have ample to drink but have lost their thirst. But can these forces murder humankind’s pristine, inherent instinct of being happy and spreading happiness? Maybe…but every time that voice is suppressed it resurrects, multiplying manifold in rigour. It may leave one body but enters and manifests itself in million others, echoing the thought of a free world, a world where there are no barriers, no wars, and no classes. A world where all can have a meaningful existence.

The 1st Director & Playwright

Malay was a lecturer in Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira (College), Belurmath. Now he is the Deputy Secretary, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. He was former HOD (Honorary) of Drama Department of BPL, Howrah. He has directed more than 24 plays and acted in more than 12 plays including 4 for NSD.

The 2^nd Director

Rokeya was a lecturer in Rammohan College, Kolkata. Now she is the Controller of Examinations at Netaji Subhas University. She is also a renowned elocutionist and a very talented actor. She played lead roles in more than 40 plays in different well established groups of Kolkata.

The Group

Purbaranga is a group of enthusiastic young men and women and some distinguished theatre personalities. Since inception it has been rehearsing and staging plays in different city theatre halls, and at the same time imparting demonstration-lessons in theatre. Various work-shops on the art of theatre have been done to develop the acting abilities and theatrical knowledge of the group members.

Several plays like Spartacus, Sitayan have been produced by the group, which were performed not only in Kolkata but other parts of Bengal and other cities of the country too. Both the plays were highly appreciated Delhi.

Cast & Credits

Flavious Abhijit Chaudhuri

Antonius Sanjay Mukherjee

Claudia & Atrena Chandreyee Mitra

Fairtrax Biswajit Ghosh

Varinia Rokeya Ray

Slave Shouvick Ghosh

Gracchus Subho Gupta Bhaya

Crassus Debnath Chatterjee

Helena Sukanya Chakraborty

Caius Souradip Das Biswas

Cricsus Pravat Tarafder