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বাদল সরকারের ‘পাগলা ঘোড়া’: বিকল্প থিয়েটারের এক অন্তর্দৃষ্টি - Atmadeep

An International Peer-Reviewed Bi-monthly Bengali Research Journal
ISSN :: 2454–1508
DOI Prefix: 10.69655
Upcoming Issue: 10 April, 2026
Starting Year: 2015
বাংলা ভাষায় প্রকাশিত আন্তর্জাতিক দ্বিমাসিক গবেষণামূলক পত্রিকা
বাংলা ভাষায় প্রকাশিত আন্তর্জাতিক দ্বিমাসিক গবেষণামূলক পত্রিকা
Volume II,Special Issue, April 10, 2026
Volume-II, Special Issue, April, 2026
Received: 05.04.2026
Accepted: 08.04.2026
Published Online: 10.04.2026
Page No:
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.specialissue.W.
বাদল সরকারের ‘পাগলা ঘোড়া’: বিকল্প থিয়েটারের এক অন্তর্দৃষ্টি
শুভজিৎ রায়, গবেষক, বাংলা বিভাগ, গৌড়বঙ্গ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত
Badal Sarkar’s “Pagla Ghoda”: An Insight into Alternative Theatre
Subhajit Roy
, Researche Scholar, Department of Bengali, Gourbanga University, West Bengal, India

ABSTRACT
In Bengali theatre, Badal Sarkar is a playwright who not only wrote plays but also transformed the way theatre is perceived. His theatrical vision stands as a significant protest against the limitations of the conventional proscenium stage, and the structured artistic expression of that protest is known as “Third Theatre” or “Alternative Theatre.” In this context, the play “Pagla Ghoda” is particularly noteworthy. Although the play appears to revolve around fragmented and crisis-ridden themes of death, memory, love, guilt, and patriarchal mentality, at its core it embodies a distinct theatrical philosophy. Here, drama is not confined merely to storytelling; rather, it expresses the darkness of the human mind, social cruelty, and existential questions in a theatrical language that transcends traditional stage conventions.
The play, centered on a cremation ground, reveals the inner emptiness of life, suppressed love, the pain of memory, and socially constructed moral hypocrisy. In this article, “Pagla Ghoda” has been analyzed from the perspective of alternative theatre. Special attention has been given to the play’s thematic structure, form, characterization, language, symbolism, stagecraft, and its underlying relationship with Badal Sarkar’s theatrical philosophy. The aim of this discussion is to show that, for Badal Sarkar, alternative theatre was not merely a technical change in stagecraft; rather, it was an artistic medium for reinterpreting life and society from a new perspective.
Keyword:
  • Badal Sarkar
  • Pagla Ghoda
  • Alternative Theatre
  • Third Theatre
  • consciousness of death
  • existential crisis
  • theatrical language
  • symbolic stagecraft
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