 | New Queen of Bengal blocks King Lear
Satyajit Ray's favourite hero, legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, 76, is being subjected to political vendetta by the Mamata Banerjee government for not joining hands with the ruling Trinamool Congress. Mamata Banerjee had approached the actor, who is suffering from terminal cancer, to join the Trinamool but he had refused. And now a play, King Lear, in which he performs, is not being allowed to be staged anywhere in Kolkata.
King Lear is directed by Suman Mukhopadhayay and was being produced by the Minerva Repertory, which came under the West Bengal government. The Left Front government had sanctioned the play and its first performance was held in November 2010. But in May this year after the CPI(M)-led Left government was voted out of power, the Mamata Banerjee government dissolved all repertory committees and stalled all shows. For the last one month the play has not been staged as the theatre group is not being given bookings either in Minerva or in Rabindra Sadan, the two auditoria where the play was being staged before the Trinamool came to power. The managers of the show are keeping their fingers crossed as their production is dependent on the government. They have been told to wait.
(The Sunday Guardian , July6 ) |
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