Theatre group Ichhemoto celebrates its eighth anniversary with popular plays

The theatre scenario in Kolkata is now far more vibrant than one would imagine. A relatively-new theatre group, Ichhemoto, recently celebrated their eighth birth anniversary in Kolkata. They staged two plays —

Ghum Nei

and

Montu O Marx

— at a city auditorium and received "overwhelming support" from the audience. The theatre group director,

Saurav Palodhi

, is happy to be able to bring the plays again and again to the theatre lovers in Kolkata. Ghum Nei was first launched on May 10, 2019, and Montu O Marx on December 31, 2021.

When asked how difficult or easy is it for a young theatre group to sustain itself in the current art and culture scenario in Bengal, Saurav said, "I wouldn't say it's a difficult task. People who are at the periphery of theatre do find the popularity waning. But those that are at the core of theatre in Bengal will tell otherwise. Theatre in Bengal is not only sustaining phases, including the pandemic, but also thriving. In fact, there are plays like

Gorur Garir Headlight

by the group Natosena who are staging the production for the 50th time in Kolkata. And the group is even older. They had to arrange for extra accommodation and open the auditorium balconies for their golden jubilee show. I had first watched it with my father as a five-year-old kid. Besides, the concept of weekend theatre is changing for the good. Now, people are eager to watch plays even on a Monday evening. Compared to many such old theatre groups in Kolkata, ours is a new one and walking a few miles in these eight years is not yet an achievement. I am looking forward to many many more years of successfully staging plays from Ichhemoto. If we fail to do that, it will be a bad failure."