DumDum Shabdomugdho Naatyokendra’s

‘SAPPHO CHITRANGADAA’
Light Designer, Stage Designer, Playwright & Director:

Rakesh Ghosh

Duration: 90 minutes

BACK STAGE

 Light Operation : Arun Kumar Kalsa

 Music : Jagmohan Singh Jony & Rakesh Ghosh
 Singers :

1. Joyeeta Chowdhury
2. Lopamudra Guha Neogi,
3. Krishna Roy,
4. Ranjan Bose

 Music Operation : Bandan Mishra

 Costume : Urmi Hazra
 Make Up : Biman Biswas
 Choreography: Rudra Mishra & Aninda Roy
 Logo Design & Graphics: Ranjan Bose
 ON STAGE

 Chitrangadaa : Lopamudra Guha Neogi

 Sappho : Krishna Roy
 Chitrabahan : Abhishek Mukherjee
 Basanta : Sandeep Ghosh
 Carxcus : Souvik Ghosh
 Nunet : Namita Chakraborty
 Harmes : Al Amin Ali
 Alcheos : Pronay Biswas
 Chorus :

1. Cheethi Debnath,
2. Suman Sarkar,
3. Anilava Chatterjee
&
 Madan : Ranjan Bose

SYNOPSIS OF THE PLAY

Sappho Chitrangadaa is Indian contemporary modern play. It deals with an

imaginary lesbian love fighting for their existence and right in against the
society and the state.
Sappho was an Archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos around
630BC. Sappho is known for her lyrical poetry, written to be sung while
accompanied by a lyre. In ancient times, Sappho was widely regarded as
one of the greatest lyric poets and was given names such as the “Tenth
Muse” and “The Poetess”. Most of Sappho’s poetry is now lost, and what is
extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; two notable exceptions are
the “Ode to Aphrodite” and the Tithonus poem. Beyond her poetry, she is
well known as a symbol of love and desire between women, with the
English words sapphic and lesbian being derived from her own name and
the name of her home island respectively. Whilst her importance as a poet
is confirmed from the earliest times, all interpretations of her work have
been coloured and influenced by discussions of her sexuality.
Chitrangadaa, in the Hindu Epic Mahabharata, (was probably compiled
between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the oldest
preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE) was the warrior
princess of Manipur and the only heir of king Chitrabahan. For multiple
generations, the dynasty did not have more than one heir. Since
Chitrabahan did not have any other heir, he trained her and bought up her
as a prince, in warfare and rule. Chitrangadaa was well-versed in warfare
and acquired the skills to protect the people of her land.
With the help of some unknown miraculous time machine, the character of
Rabindranath Tagore’s most popular dance drama ‘Chitrangadaa’ –
‘Madan’, confronts Sappho and Chitrangadaa. Not only face to face, there
is also love between them. But, the state denies this love. Trying his best to
separate Sappho and Chitrangadaa. Are they isolated at all?

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Rakesh Ghosh : Playwright & Director

Rakesh Ghosh postgraduate in Bengali language and literature from

Calcutta University, was born in Kolkata in 1977.
Rakesh, a screenplay writer of television’s mega serials, has been actively
associated with group theater since 1995.
He founded his own theater group DumDum Shabdomugdho
Naatyokendra in 2006.
Rakesh is particularly known for practicing a distinct style of drama in
Bengali theatre called ‘Androgyny’.
The hybridity of femininity and masculinity, as well as alternative sexuality
and gender politics, is clearly present again and again in the plays he has
written and directed.
He has written and directed twenty plays till date under his group. Some of
the popular plays are ‘Rwituparno Ghosh’,
‘Raajkulogaathaa’, ‘Maya Mridanga’, ‘Upal Bhadury’, ‘Sappho
Chitrangadaa’, ‘Nawaab’ etc.
Not only the best award at the state level, Rakesh has been invited,
felicitated and awarded at the national level for his plays.
He has written and directed many plays in several other theater groups as an
invited director.
At present, several established theater groups in West Bengal are staging
Rakesh’s plays regularly. Like--
1. ‘Suno Manasa Katha’ (Group: Jadavpur Manthan),
2. ‘Chuya Chandan’ (Group : Thealight),
3. ‘Lorka Lorka’ (Group: Purba Paschim),
4. ‘Aagoon’(Group: Baghajatin Alap),
5. ‘Pratham Ranga’ (Group : Ebong Amra).

LIGHT & SET Requirements of the play

“SAPPHO CHITRANGADAA”:

1. Wide per( per 64) - 22 pcs 6. 24 channel dimmer

2. 1000W pc- 6 pcs 7. Power pack- 4 pcs
3. Water roller - 2 pcs 8. Sufficient wire
4. Smoke- 2 pcs 9. Rostrum(length-- 4 ft ,
5. Profile- 2 pcs width-2 ft ,height-- 1.5 ft)
PICTURES OF THE PLAY
PICTURES OF THE PLAY