Calcutta’s theatre scenes are experiencing a vivifying phase. Not only in the proscenium space but in the experimental and interactive space, too. Theatre practitioners in the city have also gingered up their performances in various ways, be it exploring the performance space itself or their performance in a chosen space. On June 2, Tribe Cafe Salt Lake treated its patrons and guests to a unique theatre experience with the presentation of what they called ‘a cafe theatre’, titled Chaa er Opaare by Mousetrap.
Independent filmmaker and theatre practitioner Debasish Sen Sharma, who directed the play, interestingly used the cafe as the main character in this interactive production.
The team of actors with the director and scripwriter of the play Debasish Sen Sharma
“When I travelled abroad, I saw cafe theatre many times. But in Calcutta, the type of cafe theatres I saw were mostly based on reading and maybe a little enactment. Cafes are becoming a character in a very unique way in our city. That inspired the thoughts behind this play. This is a workshop production,” said Debasish.
In the performance, there was no restriction of the fourth wall or the alarm of the third bell. The central cafe space was used for the seating of the audience as well as the performance, with both spaces seamlessly blending into one another as the script unfolded. Interestingly, the play never felt incomprehensible, no matter at what point a guest walked in.
The 90-minute-plus continuous performance didn’t feel tedious not only because of the engaging and relatable subject but also because of the lack of a formal theatre’s rules and restrictions. The audience was allowed to order and sit with their food and drink while watching the performance. The actors, mostly amateurs, convincingly enacted characters of different kinds of people usually seen in a cafe using the format of playlets.
The playlets were woven engagingly by the narrator, connecting one story to another while interacting with the audience making them feel like a part of the play. The actors incorporated the cafe staff and the equipment, too, in the script while performing.
Shilpa Chakraborty and Sanjay Roy Chowdhury, partners, Tribe Cafe
“I used the existing space of the cafe without any modification. The decision to make the audience sit in the performance area was initially thought of as there was a crisis of where to make people sit, but then we thought that in a cafe people can sit anywhere and can see the other tables. So that came as an impromptu thought. We wanted to see how people react to it. I love to contemporise classics,” said Debasish.
The cafe as a space witnesses stories of various people and it keeps those stories safe within its walls. Based on this concept the entire play was developed through different relatable everyday-life situations, at the end instilling a positive message in the minds of the audience, too.
“The cafe is a specialised urban space and at the same time, not everyone has access to it. We came up with the situations and characters through brainstorming and placed them within a social context,” said the director and scriptwriter.