It is a long-standing and welcome practice of Minerva Natya Sanskriti Charcha Kendra, a publicly-funded repertoire, to present to the public finished samples of student productions. Going by the three medium-length productions put on display at the Minerva Theatre on March 3, one can safely affirm that most students have extracted maximum benefit from a state-funded theatre school. The students perform competently in different capacities in the three productions — a testimony to their training in varied aspects of theatre-making.

Suchandra Bhattacharya has signalled notable promise as a director wishing to challenge oneself. Bhattacharya, directing her own adaptation of Alan Lightman’s novel, Einstein’s Dreams (picture), displays an assured grasp of design that is rare in someone this young. The task of bringing on stage Lightman’s take on Einstein’s arcane ruminations on time is a daunting prospect. If Bhattacharya’s directorial vision comes alive on stage, it is due to the inspired support received from the set and the light designers, Sumit Dey and Sunny Chatterjee, respectively. Kaustav Chaudhuri as Einstein is a study in the sensitive, understated portrayal of the character, all the more creditable because of the uneven performances of his co-actors. Bonpaharir Rupkathara, directed by Tanmay Mondal (assisted by Chiranjit Das and Meghamitra Ghosh), attempts to performatively map the history of oppression of subaltern forest-dwelling, tribal India. The text is rather sketchy, which is inevitable because handling both the Ghatotkach myth and the Birsa Munda saga within an hour is impossible. The design, dominated by hanging ropes and heavily dependent on aerial acrobatics, leads to an avoidable visual stasis. Alladin, the last of the three productions that is directed by Sunny Chatterjee, is an enjoyable affair, bolstered by robust performances by Arindam Sardar, Subhradip Banik and Chiranjit Das.

There is in all three productions, lavish use of stage technology, set elements and light sources — such resources are easily available in an insulated repertoire environment. Young directors would thus do well to note that things are quite different in the real world and prepare themselves accordingly.