Born in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, Debesh has been working in the field of theatre for the last thirty three years. He is the founder and director of “Sansriti”. He has directed over 40 plays in Bengali. “Winkle Twinkle”, “Devi Sarpomasta”, “Phataru”, “Saudagorer Nouka” are milestone productions on the Bengali Stage directed by Debesh.

Not only proscenium, but he has also directed plays for intimate and site-specific theatre. He is a well acclaimed theatre academic and expert, and has completed a senior fellowship on “Cognitive Neuroscience and Theatre”. He has written several books on theatre. “The Week” magazine felicitated him as one of the ‘Fifty emerging stars of India’ in 2003. Debesh has been honoured by Paschimbanga Natya Academy (Govt. of W.B.) as “Best Director” twice. Recipient of many awards Debesh directed his first feature film “Natoker Moto: like a play” in 2015. It was included in International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa in the Indian Panorama and, International Competition Section. Film Critic Circle of India (FCCI) honoured him as best debut director of 2015 for the film. Currently he is working on “Natyashastra”. Highest state award in theatre (Girish Ghosh Samman) was given to Debesh by Govt. of W.B. (I&CA) in 2019.

Ea (2006)

Deconstructing a post-modern text that took shape from Peter Bichsel’s short stories is fascinating as well as a challenging task. While Shey of Tagore did not bear any authentic identity and could resemble each one of us, EA has the same proponsity, with an unconventional proponsity to dismantle the status quo of present era. While the protagonist categorically spells out that the audience shouldn’t be expecting for anything glorious and significant to take place, there nullifying - or, at least, trying to nullify - the thought of a ‘tragedy’ to be unfolded in the classical sense, the play EA does actually open up an even greater modern tragedy.

But, is it the story of the protagonist, or is it a saga of ‘anybody’ in the society who remains ‘nobody’ even after making failed attempts to become ‘somebody’. While Tagore’s Shey (or he) had the liberty to reconstruct or deconstruct himself against any predicaments, the ‘he’ of EA do not have the liberty to do so in the hegemonized world of Globalisation.

EA, at the end of the day, can be proclaimed a tragedy that has got the potential of challenging the glory of an ironically pathetic non-tragedy.

STORY : PETER BICHSEL

PLAY : KOUSHIK ROYCHOWDHURY

DIRECTION : DEBESH CHATTOPADHYAY

Conspicuously unconventional in form and content alike, this single-cast play dwells on a superlatively - and therefore miserably - sensitive individual’s ordeal regarding his coming to terms - albeit in vain - with the codes of modern-day living in a world so pathetically numb and often nonsensical. Although the protagonist - at the very outset - categorically spells out that the audience shouldn’t be expecting for anything glorious and significant to take place, thereby nullifying - or, at least, trying to nullify - the thought of a ‘tragedy’ to be unfolded in the classical sense, the play One Anybody Nobody (Se Ye Emni) does actually open up an even greater modern tragedy.
Why an even greater modern tragedy? Because what the protagonist of the play calls for is neither awe nor sympathy nor even a combination of both. Instead, as spectators, we are constantly and consciously made to feel and realise the undying truth inherein one of the most famous - or, should we say, infamous? - epigrams of our times : A man never knows what he cannot do until he tries to undo what he did!
And... well, in a word, our protagonist does exactly that through the body of the play. He vehemently tries to undo what he did and has done so far only to get to know what he cannot do, and more importantly, what he cannot even intend or aspire to do. From ‘nobody’ to ‘anybody’, then from ‘anybody’ to ‘one’, and then again from ‘one’ to ‘anybody’ and from ‘anybody’ back to ‘nobody’ - no, note, coming a full cycle doesn’t mean much - it’s a journey, as it were, through the different layers of languishing in the oblivion.
It - the play, we mean - is an anti-narrative of the narrative of an individual who does the most unthinkable and unthought of things in an exquisitely well-thoughtout manner. Be it becoming a mobile database of the underground railways, or formulating a new language with the changed nuances of the commonest of common words of our daily use, or claimming himself to be an explorer who has... well... rediscovered North Calcutta (as a matter of fact, this discovery of his can really ashen the glory of our legendary Colombus or Amerigo Vespucci), our protagonist sorely takes up the onus and toes the destiny of metamorphosing from an individual to a collective unit, which encompasses the entire panorama of our soul’s potentials.
One Anybody Nobody, at the end of the day, is a tragedy that has got the potential of challenging the glory of an ironically pathetic non-tragedy. And that’s that.

Story : Peter Bichsel

Play : Koushik Roychowdhury

Direction : Debesh Chattopadhyay