Prachi Pratichi, a Santiniketan-based cultural outfit, on Monday evening hosted the 100th play at the open-air theatre of Panchaban Art Resort, as part of its initiative to conduct 100 anti-war and anti-fascism plays with performers from Bengal and Bangladesh in a calendar year.

On December 25 last year, the cultural outfit staged its first drama against fascism and decided to conduct another 99 shows within Christmas this year. At least 50 theatre groups, including 15 from Bangladesh, performed on the open-air stage, two kilometres away from the Visva-Bharati campus.

“This year, we witnessed two mega wars. The first one was between Russia and Ukraine, and the second was between Gaza and Israel. We can easily sense the rising tune of fascism in our country, which is also similar to creating a war-like situation by promoting hatred against different communities. That is why we set the target of 100 such plays to send a message of peace and our stand against the war,” said Tapos Mallik, organiser of the cultural initiative.

“We sent messages of humanity, amity and love through those plays against the war. Our vision is to promote anti-war and anti-fascism narratives among the people and it will be continued,” Mallick added.

On Monday evening, a Calcutta-based theatre group — Theatre Z — organised its play “2023”. The outfit at the open-air theatre of the art resort organised one or two plays every Saturday, including a theatre festival, during the Christmas vacation.

Barisha Viswavidyalay Natya Charcha Kendra, Ankur and Theatre Circle from Bangladesh, and groups like Theatre Z and Aayna Natya Gosthi from Bengal were among many other groups that performed at Panchaban.

Nasimuddin Julius, the director of Ankur, a theatre group in Bangladesh, said he, along with the cultural activists of his country, would try to replicate the initiative in the neighbouring country.

“It was a great idea to protest against war by staging drama to send a message against fascism and war. We will try to follow this in our country,” he said.

Gautam Ghose, a prominent film director who was present during the staging of a few performances at the open-air theatre, said there was a need to continue the protest against the war in various forms.

“There are many reasons for which the war will not end in our world. But there should be parallel activities and protests against the war across the globe. The cultural outfit and its organiser Tapos Mallick have been
pivotal in continuing the protest against war. I welcome this initiative,” said Ghose.

“Organising 100 plays at the open-art theatre also gave opportunity to theatre groups of the districts that do not get a place to perform,” he added.