If I had to make an estimate, I’d say that, until the previous decade, the number of people acting on the English theatre stage would not have exceeded 100 in the city. The world of English theatre here has been, for the most part, a close-knit world. Katy Lai Roy continues to create magic with The Red Curtain, while simultaneously honing new talent with terrific school productions. Phyllis Bose, the late Rohit Pombra and Katy Lai Roy have given the city some of its most memorable productions. Zarine Chaudhuri has balanced brilliant performances in the classic mould alongside her development of theatre as an inclusive form, with The Action Players.

The legacy of our English theatre as we know it, dates back to the ’60s and ’70s, where the likes of the Bhagat brothers won hearts and fans. Most significantly, the past two decades have seen a massive surge in original playwriting, with groups like Tin Can, MAD and Theatrecian itself churning out original content. Today, groups are more experimental, often eschewing the full-length format for shorter plays, experimenting with form, breaking language barriers, adapting to the Indian context. Theatrecian’s Indian adaptation of Neil Simon’s ‘Rumours’, performed in 2009 My oldest memories are of watching Suhel Seth in Don’t Drink the Water, Cedric Spanos and Pradip Mitra in Habeas Corpus and Proscenium’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire I’d had some experience of it as a young audience member. It is, without doubt, a niche culture with a very limited audience base, but it’s there for those who want to chisel their art in it. The fact that I could take what was effectively an idle pastime and make the transition onto the public stage is testament to the English theatre culture in Kolkata. Brit comedy was to be my core style and English theatre was to be my calling. Unknowingly, I had started on the road as an actor. Over the next few months, I’d perfected his style and projection. I began to imitate him, his mannerisms and his heavyset Received Pronunciation, watching every film in the Carry On series that featured him. I laughed for two hours straight, and thereon became a fan of Kenneth Williams. The film was Carry on Spying, a vintage wacky British comedy. TNT, which is now TCM, was about to show a black-and-white film, so I thought I’d see how it went. On a Sunday afternoon in 1996, I was lazing after lunch, surfing channels.

British Comedy finds its place on Kolkata’s stage Illustration: Tiyasa Das

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