colab arts welcomes epic actors workshop
Producers Of The
South Asian Theatre Festival
It has been an amazing journey. At the very onset, we would like to thank all of you, staunch supporters and friends of Epic Actors’ Workshop and Choir, for your undying support and encouragement in all these years. The group was originally formed by Dr Dipan Ray in New York, 1988. Over the years, Epic broadened its mission to showcase and underscore the importance of South Asian theater, mostly Bangla Theater, performance and (the) arts within the community and in the larger context of mainstream American culture. Although Epic’s focus has been to provide a platform for Bangla Theater in the United States, it has also tried to be a conduit that connects the emerging trends and thoughts of Bangla theater in Kolkata with the Indian diasporas in the US. In this process, Epic espouses to support all intercultural and multicultural endeavors.Although Epic’s focus has been to provide a platform for Bangla theater in the United States, it has also tried to be a conduit that connects the emerging trends and thoughts of Bangla theater in Kolkata with the Indian diasporas in the US. In this process, Epic espouses to support all intercultural and multicultural endeavors.
The group was originally formed by Dr Dipan Ray in New York, 1988. Over the years, Epic broadened its mission to showcase and underscore the importance of South Asian theater, mostly Bangla Theater, performance and (the) arts within the community and in the larger context of mainstream American culture. Although Epic’s focus has been to provide a platform for Bangla Theater in the United States, it has also tried to be a conduit that connects the emerging trends and thoughts of Bangla theater in Kolkata with the Indian diasporas in the US. In this process, Epic espouses to support all intercultural and multicultural endeavors.
For information on booking future performances for your venue, please contact Dipan Ray.
“We hope and aspire to bring together the gems of South Asian Theatre that are interspersed all over the United States through a three-day theatre festival. This attempt is a culmination of decades of community-based theatre work that the South Asian diaspora has engaged in. It will primarily showcase productions of US based theatre groups presenting plays from the different regions of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Through the display of theatrical artistic excellence, We will try to connect the diverse cultural entities breaking through geographical and cultural boundaries and at the same time celebrating the differences. The festival will be an ongoing event held every year at different parts of the country.”
Livestream recording of “Mothermotherland” at The Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage in Washington, D.C.
BACKGROUND
Among the highlights of Epic’s career are 3 noteworthy events or happenings. In 1997, Epic first made its grand entry into the The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), which has become the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues. Epic produced Badal Sircar’s Ballabhpurer Roopkatha and received quite a bit of appreciation, and since then Epic Actors’ Workshop has been regularly invited to perform at the Fringe Festival in New York. This summer too. Epic will be staging Manoj Mitra’s Ashvatthama at the Fringe, directed by Sakti Sengupta.
In the summer of 1999, Epic collaborated with the Present Company, an off-off Broadway theater company and the producers of Fringe, to stage Nuraldeen’s Lifetime, directed by Sudipto Chatterjee. The play was originally written by Syed Shamsul Haq from Bangladesh. It was performed in New York City at the Present Company in a bilingual (Bangla and English) format with actors from Kolkata and Bangladesh (living in the US) and also included mainstream American actors. Nuraldeen received a fabulous review in the Village Voice and was written about in other mainstream and community-based newspapers and magazines of New York City. Nuraldeen had a 2-week run and every show was practically sold out. In the winter of the same year, the entire cast was transported too Kolkata to participate in the annual Nandikar theater festival. This time the production took on another dimension. In Kolkata, Epic collaborated with local theater group, Natya Anan and put up 5 shows of Nuraldeen’s Lifetime, receiving much critical acclaim from all the leading newspapers of Kolkata. In the vein of collaborations, Epic (June 2004) collaborated with Sayak, a renowned theater group from Kolkata to stage Samaresh Basu’s Adaab, directed by Meghnaad Bhattacharya in Kolkata, for a benefit show to help the handicapped children of the city.