Sreejansena

Sreejansena (Sreejan = Creation, Sena = Army) is a Siliguri-based Group Theatre that specialises in Pathya Natya (Theatre on Syllabus) or theatre that is based on texts in school syllabus, played by students and viewed by them.

The idea is similar to School Theatre projects, theatres by students, that have gained momentum in various parts of West Bengal. However, Pathya Natya dramas are based on stories or poetries from students' text books.

History

Sreejansena was founded by a group of students from [Siliguri College] in 1993. The idea behind the formation of the group was to practice leftist art and culture. Besides, the members wanted to prove that theatre helps improve an individual's personality and communication skills without disrupting his/her career interests.

The group was officially formed on 16 August, 1993. 16 August is the birth anniversary of Bengali poet Sukanta Bhattacharya who is associated with revolutionary youthfulness. The group functioned from the residence of its director Mr. Partha Pratim Mitra (Murari) at 26 Sisir Bhaduri Sarani, Kshudirampally, Siliguri. The group never had a permanent office or space for rehearsal. The central yard of the Gouri Shankar Market at Bidhan Road served as the rehearsal ground for first few years. Then, the members shifted to a makeshift rehearsal room near Kanchanjunga Stadium. Classrooms of Nilnalini Primary School and the basement of Mitra Sammilani Hall have been used occasionally.

The group set a number of new trends in running a group theatre. Notable among them are : involvement of young students, collective direction in theatre productions, and, prompt reaction in any socio-political situation.

Activities

Sreejansena is chiefly an amateur theatre group. It practices both proscenium and street theatre. Third Theatre Movement, as advocated by Badal Sarkar, has influenced Sreejansena's theatre language. Ujaan (based upon The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory) was the first proscenium drama. Amitava Kanjilal, Subhojit Majumder, Debjit Dutta and Prabir Chatterjee were the first actors. Achinta Dutta and Jayanta Jana handled the lights while Amitava Ghosh operated sound effects. The drama was staged on Dinabandhu Mancha.

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  Debjit and Prabir in Ujaan, 1993

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  Tohar Gaon Bhi Ek Din

The annual general programme of the group is named Sahaswar (Saha = Together, Swar = voice) that translates into 'collective voice'.

References

Bengali theatre Bangladesh Theatre groups Abayab Nattyadal Anannya Nattya Goshthi Anushilan Natyadal Bahurupi Natya Sangstha Nattokendro Padatik Nattya Sangsad Theatre personalities Abdullah Al Mamun Aly Zaker Asaduzzaman Noor Mamunur Rashid Munir Chowdhury Nurul Momen Selim Al Deen Subhash Dutta Dramas Che'r Cycle Theatre auditoriums Guide House auditorium Mahila Samity auditorium India Theatre groups Aneek theatre group Anya Theatre Bohurupee Bratyajon Gananatya Group theatre of Kolkata Indian People's Theatre Association Nandikar Natadha Natyoshala Padatik Pancham Baidik Purba Paschim Ritwik Sanglap Kolkata Sansriti Sayak Sreejansena Sundaram Swapnapheri Swapnasandhani Theatre Formation Paribartak Theatre personalities Major personalities Ajit Bandyopadhyay Arun Mukherjee Badal Sarkar Bijon Bhattacharya Bratya Basu Chandan Sen Chitra Sen Debesh Chattopadhyay Debshankar Haldar Gangapada Basu Girish Chandra Ghosh Goutam Halder Kumar Roy Kaushik Sen Khaled Choudhury Manoj Mitra Meghnad Bhattacharya Mohit Chattopadhyay Ramaprasad Banik Ritwik Ghatak Rudraprasad Sengupta Shaoli Mitra Sohini Sengupta Shobha Sen Sombhu Mitra Suman Mukhopadhyay Swatilekha Sengupta Tripti Mitra Utpal Dutt Other personalities Churni Ganguly George Baker Gerasim Lebedev Kaushik Ganguly Paran Bandopadhyay Rajatava Dutta Riddhi Sen Shekhar Chatterjee Sudipta Chakraborty Tanima Sen Dramas Barricade Biley Bireswar Birpurush Bisarjan Nabanna Nil Darpan Pinki Buli Poshu Khamar Learned societies Paschim Banga Natya Akademi Theatre auditoriums Academy of Fine Arts Girish Mancha Hindu Theatre Madhusudan Mancha Mahajati Sadan Minerva Theatre Rabindra Sadan Ramgopal Mancha Sisir Mancha Sujata Sadan Star Theatre See also Jatra