Sabyasachi Chakrabarty Returns to the Stage

RBN Web Desk: Popular actor Sabyasachi Chakrabarty is all set to return to the stage in a new production where he is playing a major role. The play, titled A-Pobitro, is being directed by Chandan Sen.

It’s an encore of sorts for Sabyasachi who will be sharing the stage with Chandan and seasoned actor Shantilal Mukherjee. The trio had earlier worked together in Caesar, which was also directed by Chandan.

A-Pobitro is an adaptation of American playwright Jerome Lawrence’s 1960 play Inherit the Wind. The original play is based on the true events of the 1925 Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial where a young high school teacher was arrested and subsequently convicted for teaching the theory of evolution to his students, since the same was banned under Tennessee’s Butler Act. The arrest led to a public outcry as people didn’t believe that a teacher could be arrested—much like a criminal—for imparting education.

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Sabyasachi plays attorney Henry Drummond who defends the accused Bertram Cates in court. Chandan plays EK Hornbeck, a sardonic journalist who chronicles the events of the case and is vehemently opposed to religious beliefs. Shantilal has been cast as reverend Jeremiah Brown, a Protestant Christian preacher who musters support for Bertram. Bhadra Basu and Asit Basu play other key roles in the play.

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Speaking to the media recently, Chandan said, they have retained the original play and the events depicted have not been adapted to suit the Indian context. Drummond, while defending his client in court, questions whether a law can exist in a country that allows the arrest of a person on allegations of teaching scientific principles. This, Chandan said, is a very pertinent point which has relevance in all countries.

Produced and presented by Ashokenagar Natyaanan, A-Pobitro will be staged twice back to back in Kolkata on 9 September.