On this day, Aurora Theatre opened in the building that once belonged to Bengal Theatre.

The opening play was Kshirode Prasad Vidyavinod’s Dakshina.

This brought an important chapter in the history of Bengali theatre to a close.

Bengal Theatre was the first public playhouse in Calcutta.

It opened on August 16, 1873, at 9 Beadon Street. Sarat Chandra Ghose built it. Initially, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was associated with it.

The first play performed at Bengal Theatre was Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s Sarmistha, which, for the first time, featured women on the Bengali
professional stage.

Eminent actors and actresses such as Sarat Chandra Ghose himself and Beharilal Chatterjee, Amritalal Basu, Mahendralal Basu, Golap (Sukumari Dutta) and Jagattarini acted here.

The eminent actress Binodini began her acting career here.

Bengal Theatre closed down in April 1901 because of litigation problems and differences of opinion in the management.
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