Hey IL friends, Last week I had a great time with my friends in the renovated Star Theatre. I myself stay in LA and hop in to Kolkata to my parents’ home once every year. Every time I come here, my high school friends and I have a great get-together at our traditional Bengali home in Bagbazar.:cheers Most of my friends are mostly from other cities and the visit at the Star Theater was really cool. The complex has a few nice restaurants and hangout places. But, my friends wanted to catch up with some real theatrical performances. Can any of you suggest more such cool places to hang out the next time I drop in? And ofcourse, we would love to see some good performances.
Hi Cool Nita, Good that you touched down on the brand new Star. Minerva Theater has been renovated too and has an ambiance perfect for cool gals like you. But I must tell you that these renovated theaters are basically cinema halls that bear the ‘theater’ tag just in their names. Don’t worry! That doesn’t make them any less attractive. I would like to visit it with my girly gang soon and hope to give some great feedbacks. Lets see if we have the same thing to say after our visits!!!:thumbsup Chill yaar... Sreejata ghosh
Welcome back to Kolkata! I am a theatre buff and know a couple of nice places to watch live stage performances. The easiest to reach would be Academy of Fine Arts just next to Rabindra Sadan. You could also bring your friends to the Rabindra Sadan itself that hosts plays now and then. Once you hit the venue, you will see the names and hoardings of the currently running plays and take your time to pick and choose. Let’s hope you and your friends have a great time and a nice memory to carry back about Kolkata theatres. Take care... Bhaswati Mitra
Bhaswati! You seem to understand my point perfectly. Thanks for the suggestions - I would definitely plan a visit to the theater grounds you have mentioned. And Sreejata, you were right about the attraction factor about the Minerva - I went there recently though not with my friends. My reaction was simply WOW :bowdown - such a lovely transformation to old Minerva! But yes, I’d like to stick to the play-watching factor... you see, that’s what my friends are dying for. So, other suggestions of Kolkata theaters are welcome. Keep responding gals...Bye! Nabanita Basu
Hello Nabanita, Its wonderful to learn about your interest in theatres… No wonder you raved about Star and Minerva. Shisir Mancha is another famous stage where famous plays are performed regularly. You will have no trouble finding it - it is just next to the Nandan complex. You must do a bit of personal research before deciding about which play to watch…. there would be so many of them. You must keep the language factor in mind… do your friends understand Bengali? … :confused2: if not you must go for the English dramas, mostly translated ones. Enjoy and tell us how it went…best of luck! Saradia Ray
Hey Saradia, Thanks for your language-related concern. Yes, I am fortunate…my friends understand Bengali though it is not a common mother tongue with all of them. By now, I have got so many theater options from you all that I don’t what to say….THANKS IL!!! You see, my friends are rather nostalgic about Kolkata - they spent their school-days here! I have mentioned the theatre hall names you all have suggested to them and you know what? They don’t seem to have enough! So, dear gals, keep up your ‘theater supply’…Once again THANKS A LOT!!:bowdown Bye, Nabanita Basu
A host of wonderful plays are currently being performed in GD Birla Sabhaghar. Most of these are English adaptations. I hope your friends have no objection to that! "Anything But Love" is one such lovely play I recently watched myself. Oh dear! I simply loved it. :thumbsup I must suggest you and your theatre enthusiast friends to give it a try. You would actually get to learn about the other dramas lined up to be performed on here…lets hope you catch up the best of the lot. Have fun and enjoy your cultural evenings. Take care! Bhaswati Mitra
Hi IL gals! :hiya Nabanita has brought up a wonderful topic. I was myself into stage performance in my college days and the memories fresh and lively as ever…. Nita, while the theatre-hopping heat is on, I’d suggest go to Madhusudan Mancha. It is not much hyped about but it is one of the standard stages of Kolkata. You will get to see all the recent plays with your friends… Have fun and let all of us know how it went. Bye sweetie! … Dipti Sengupta
Hello Dipti, Its great to have a stage performer like you in IL. I cultivated a taste for theaters just after my marriage... my husband’s family is a great theatre lover and it seems…the bug has bitten me too! Well, I must say that without watching the theaters, a great part of the heritage of Kolkata remains in the dark. Remember the theater stalwarts of Bengal? Shambhu Mitra, Utpal Dutta and Shisir Bhaduri? Well, I’m an avid fan of Rudraprasad Sengupta and Manoj Mitra. Well Nabanita, if you ask me I must recommend Girish Mancha to you. It hosts some of the leading contemporary dramas from the best theater groups. Go ahead and take your friends there... I’m sure you’ll simply LOVE the experience! Regards, Bidisha Roy
