THE Dramatic Arts Academy (DAA) is pleased to announce that it will be staging two plays written by India’s renowned Poet and Nobel Laureate, the late Rabindranauth Tagore, on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at the National Cultural Centre commencing at 19:00 hrs. Admission will be free. The plays are in commemoration of his 150th birth anniversary which was observed on August 7, 2011. The Government of India had designated 2011 a year to remember and to commemorate the life and works of Tagore.
The presentations which were scheduled for November last year, were unavoidably postponed due to the national and regional elections, according to a statement from the DAA.
However, the DAA notes that despite not being able to stage the presentations in the designated year, it feels that Guyanese should not be robbed of the opportunity to experience the literary skills of this prolific writer. The two plays to be staged are ‘The Trial’ and ‘The King and the Queen’.
‘The Trial’, which presents opportunities for humour, examines aspects of power and greed by a servant who worked in the palace whilst juxtaposing benevolence and deprivation. Estimated runtime is 40 minutes. ‘The King and the Queen’, with an estimated runtime of an hour, can best be described as a drama. It is the story of a man who basically conquered everything within his grasp only to be deficient in love his wife should have reciprocated. It shows that war sometimes can have its genesis in the search for love.
Both plays are directed by Neaz Subhan and will feature some of the best Guyanese actors and actresses. The cast includes Ajay Baksh, Derek Gomes, Michael Ignatius, Rajan Tiwari, Sonia Yarde, Keisha Narine, Rushella Edmondson, Romel Edmondson, Narda Mohamed, Chris Gopaul, Shameeza Mohamed, Kerimaria Phang, Jeniffer Persaud, Karicia Couchman, Aditya Persaud and Rupert Singh.
In addition to the two plays, recitation of a Tagore poem and a dance by the Indian Cultural Centre will form part of the evening’s programme.
The DAA would like to reiterate its pleasure for being associated with the presentations and hopes that Guyanese would take the opportunity to witness a sample of Tagore’s exemplary work. The DAA would like to express its profound gratitude to the Indian High Commission for its advice and support of this project.
Rabindranauth Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 and died on August 7, 1941. He became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature. Known mostly for his poetry, he wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. He also composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.