Rangalayer Rabi Brings Tagore’s Theatrical Legacy Back into the Spotlight

Blending music, storytelling and historical insights, the performance traced Tagore's nuanced relationship with Bengali public theatre while reimagining the relevance of his plays for contemporary audiences.

Presented jointly by Wanderers Footprints Travel Boutique and Sthapana Santiniketan, Rangalayer Rabi (“Rabi of the Public Stage”) was staged at the Amaltas Auditorium of the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The programme was conceived by Prakriti Mukhopadhyay out of a curiosity to explore the nature of Rabindranath Tagore's relationship with the Bengali public theatre tradition. The presentation was structured around backstage anecdotes and songs drawn from a selection of productions chosen from nearly twenty-five stage adaptations, including Tagore's plays as well as theatrical adaptations of his stories, novels, and poems that had been performed in the public theatre.

The programme highlighted how the Bengali public theatre, shaped by the patriarchal and discriminatory politics of its time, was unable to embrace Tagore in his true artistic spirit. The productions it chose to stage were largely driven by commercial considerations. Tagore himself was not particularly enthusiastic about public theatre; nevertheless, he attended performances of his plays staged there. He also held the acting abilities of the public actresses in high esteem and admired their artistic excellence.

The programme concluded by reflecting on the continuing relevance of Tagore's plays in the contemporary socio-political context, especially in light of changing political landscapes, and emphasized the need to reassess and reinterpret his dramatic works for the present day.

The narration for Rangalayer Rabi was delivered by distinguished actor, elocutionist, and interdisciplinary artist Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee. The musical performances were presented by Pratyush Mukhopadhyay and Prakriti Mukhopadhyay, with instrumental accompaniment by Surajit Das and Nilanjan Sengupta.

“This production is a kind of time travel for me. It also reflects the politics of culture in the sociological framework of arts and how Tagore played a pivot.”, said Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee