Jaya Seal Ghosh is making a comeback on stage through a play

When it comes to acting, actress Jaya Seal Ghosh is known to be selective about the characters and projects. After years, Jaya is making a comeback with a brand new play. 

Directed by Anubha Fatepuria, the project Heritage Meets Theatre will be performed in Tandon House on Baranashi Ghosh Street in North Kolkata. The intimate play will showcase the cast acting under the open sky while the viewers sit on the lawn. In an interview with Anandabazar Online, Jaya said, “I never thought I would do theatre like this. I was excited and felt it during the rehearsal. I only pray that it doesn’t rain that day.” The first show will be on September 16.

Jaya is returning to theatre after 12 years. She worked in Chandalika, directed by veteran theatre personality Usha Gangopadhyay. She said, “I feel a bit scared to work on a play after so many years. This play’s structure is also different. I am learning many new things. The audience will tell the rest.” 

The play delves into the transformation of the city. South Kolkata has contemporised itself and the effects have reached North Kolkata as well. Old homes are reducing in number. Restoration and preservation of the heritage houses are not unquestionably executed. This is Padatik Theatre’s effort to host a show for the sake of old Kolkata. That’s the reason, it will take place not on a stage, but in the yard of an old house in North Kolkata. A part of the show’s earnings will be donated for the maintenance of that house.

Jaya said, “I could not help joining such an effort. They initially planned another play with me. We moved forward with the current thought amidst the earlier plan.” A one-hour drama, comprising the Hindi translations of the selected parts of seven plays, has been made. The first part is based on Tagore’s Streer Potro. Jaya said, “Many years ago I was mesmerised seeing Seema Biswas acting in Streer Potro on the stage. The appeal of the character Mrinal is universal.”