Kolkata-based blind theatre group Shyambazar Anya Desh (Registration No. S/1L 48227 of 2007-2008) was established in 2006 following a split from arguably the first blind theatre group in India, Blind Opera, founded back in 1996.
Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, the artistic director of Shyambazar Anya Desh had been one of the founders – and also the artistic director – of Blind Opera which eventually he parted ways with due to some creative and foundational differences.
Shyambazar Anya Desh has productions based on –
- Classic plays (e.g. Rabindranath Tagore; Sophocles; Śūdraka)
- Epic and Mythical texts (e.g. The Mahābhārata; the Upaniṣad)
- Folk-lore and urban-lore (e.g. Mangal-Kāvya; Śrī-Śrī-Rāmakṛṣṇa-Kathāmṛta or The Nectar of Sri Ramakrishna's Words)
- Modern western texts (e.g. Samuel Beckett; Bertolt Brecht; Blindness by José Saramago)
- Modern Bengali texts (Manoj Mitra; Shubhashis Gangopadhyay)
Gallery
Shyambazar Anya Desh in Numbers
Journey
19 Years
Engagement
1200+
Plays
25+
Shows
1500+
Reach
150,000+
Shyambazar Anyadesh phase
- Govt. of India (Mins. of Culture) Junior Fellowship Award SubhashDey and Shibshankar Prasad Verma (2009-10; both visually impaired)
- Augusto Boal: Theatre of the Oppressed Jana SanskritiSamman Director and playwright: ShubhashisGangopadhyay
- DishaSamman (accorded by Disha Eye Hospitals) Shyambazar Anyadesh, 2023
Significant Productions
- Raktakarabi @ Bharat Rang Mahotsav (National School of Drama, New Delhi) 2012
- Raktakarabi @ Theatre Olympic, Patna, 2016
