Volume II, Issue V, May 2026
Volume-II, Issue-V, May, 2026 |
Received: 22.05.2026 | Accepted: 27.05.2026 | ||
Published Online: 31.05.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.issue.05W.472 | |||
বাংলা সাধারণ রঙ্গালয়ের সূচনা: ন্যাশনাল থিয়েটার ও গিরিশ
প্রসঙ্গ
সাফিউল্লা মোল্লা, গবেষক, বাংলা বিভাগ, যাদবপুর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
The Emergence of the Bengali Public Theatre: The
National Theatre and the Girish Chandra Context Safiulla Molla, Research Scholar, Department of Bengali, Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
In December 1872,
the journey of the public theatre began with the staging of Nil Darpan.
Under the banner of the first National Theatre, entry to the theatre was opened
to the general public in exchange for money. The main figures behind this
initiative were Ardendusekhar Mustafi, Nagendranath Bandyopadhyay, Radhamadhab
Kar, Dharmadas Sur, and others. Girish Chandra Ghosh, however, was not among
them at the outset. He was not in favour of this practice of paying audiences
watching performances like a “crowded marketplace,” nor did he support the use
of the name “National Theatre,” which he felt could tarnish the dignity of
Bengali theatre and expose its economic vulnerability. Nevertheless, the
practice of paid theatre-going had already begun. Accounts of that first-day
experience are found in various memoirs and autobiographical writings. Girish
Chandra himself later joined the theatre, but in the capacity of an unpaid
actor.
From a
contemporary perspective, when we try to understand the ethos of the National
Theatre and the theatrical vision of Girish, we see that he had dreamed of
building a theatre culture but was opposed to turning it into a purely
commercial enterprise. Yet, over time, theatre inevitably became
commercialised. Even experimental theatre today reflects elements of
semi-professionalism. Girish Chandra was aware of this possibility from the
beginning. The central aim of this essay is to rediscover that vision and
mindset. | ||
Keyword:
|