Theatre festival in city in memory of Noti Binodini

KOLKATA: A five-day theatre festival dedicated to noted stage actor Binodini Das is being held in Kolkata till March 29 at Minerva theatre. On Saturday, Education minister Bratya Basu, thespian Debshankar Haldar and Arpita Ghosh, vice president of Minerva Natyasanskriti Charchakendra, inaugurated the fest at the iconic Minerva theatre.

The will stage 15 plays by various groups from across the state. Several popular plays like ‘Rong’, ‘Chayapath’, ‘Phire Dekha’, ‘Kantha’, ‘Mejaj, Ganashatru’ and ‘Shiri’ to name a few will be staged at the festival.

“We organised theatre fest in Jalpaiguri, Burdwan, Medinipur, Malda and Presidency division. 10 plays in each division were staged,” said Basu.

For those unaware, Binodini Das (1863-1941), popularly known as Noti Binodini, ruled the Calcutta stage for more than a decade. Born into prostitution, Binodini started her career as a courtesan. At the age of 12 in 1874, she played her first serious role as part of Calcutta’s National Theatre.

However, under the able mentorship of Namsamrat Girish Chandra Ghosh, Binodini became a name to reckon with in Bengali theatre. In her 12-year-old career, she did more than 80 roles, including the iconic ‘Kapalkundala’, ‘Sita’, ‘Radha’, ‘Draupadi’ and ‘Pramila’. Even Ramakrishna had come to watch her play in 1884.

However, at the prime of her career, aged 23 she quit theatre forever. Living a life on her own terms, Binodini became the first South Asian theatre actress to pen her autobiography, ‘Aamar Katha’ and ‘Amar Abhinetri Jibon’.

Haldar, who plays eminent thespian Girish Chandra Ghosh in the play ‘Ek Mancha, Ek Jibon’, is happy that a state-level theatre fest is being organised to honour one of India’s most iconic theatre actresses of the 19th century.