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January 1996 - A few Bengali's felt the need for an alternate drama group in the
Bay Area. Earlier a few groups have performed in the last 10 years or so
in Prabasi functions. The total number of productions from all these groups
has been a maximum of one per year. In february,
these like minded people mostly unknown to each other
got together and create an alternate drama group
not belonging to an individual but with a vision, a vision of creating
a cultural bond and excellence with a special emphasis on bengali theatre.
- May 1996 - The first production of this group, Kenaram Becharam was
hosted in Annual Baisakhi function of Bay Area Prabasi, May 12th in Amador theatre.
During production of this drama the group faced
significant challenges in finding interested people to fill in the 13
characters. In fact for majority of us, it was the first performance on stage.
However, everyone
was very enthusiastic and encouraging; so we settled down and though almost
none of us knew each other before February, we became a very well-knit
group with a strong short-term objective to make Kenaram Becharam a success
and a long-term objective of making this "well-knit" group a success. That
is when names for the group was proposed and the group decided overwhelmingly
on the name BAY BAHURUPI.
During the course of this production, many people joined the group and kept coming in
future days. We are an open group and accommodate anyone who shares our vision.
One of the most important things we learnt was that team morale can be very high once
the effort is on everybody's part with everybody sharing at least a
major responsibility each. Responsibilities were distributed and each person had their share
depending on whatever their interests and skill-sets are.
- February 1997 - After our
initial success, Bay Bahurupi came back again on Feb. 15th to stage
its 2nd production in the form of Phaansh at the Gunn High School auditorium
during the Swaraswati puja celebration. This time we undertook an even more complex project
with split stage and light zones.
The distributed responsibility model again worked very well in a lot more
complicated project. We worked
on time constraints, rehearsed on week nites sometimes in smaller groups,
in 1-on-1 sessions and the effort was worth it. Again, the project was
a huge success even
better than last time. Notably, we had more that 6 people join Bay Bahurupi
for this project.
- October 1997 - Bay bahurupi presented a "Sruti Natak" named Baro Bhutey. Adopted
from a Narayan Gangopadhyay play, this was probably the first attempt of its kind
in a Bengali cultural programme of Bay area. The audience highly applauded this short
yet grand production for the great comic relief.
- November 1997 - The fourth production of Bay Bahurupi came to public during the
Kali Puja celebrations in Chabot College Auditorium. We performed a modern day drama
framed in historical timeframe, Chiching Phaank. This time, we experimented with
hanging sets, dance and song performances. The biggest challenges of this drama were
the costumes, the moving rock on stage and a huge cast. It all came out in flying
colors and the audience had a real treat to their senses. Bay Bahurupi has established
itself as a quality group by this time.
- September 1998 - Kaleidoscope was our first effort towards a diverse
cultural presentation. As the name suggests, it was a colorful medley of
songs, dance, dramma and recitation mix. The uniqueness came in the way
it was presented to the audience without break using zonal spots and color.
It was yet another great success, audience loved the presentation and performances on a joyous Durga Pooja weekend.
We shall move on to more complicated productions in years to come and experiment
with different forms of Dramma presentations with higher degree of
technical complexity. We have vowed to work even harder to reach our
goals and make our productions successful.
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