As we embark on our next journey with our 6th production this year (2019), it is perhaps time to look back... looking back to where it all began...
The Creator works in mysterious ways... and today, when I trace back the sequence of events that led to the existence of Eastern Thespians, it appears that the script of this series was prepared much before we were aware of it.... hope it turns into a 'mega series'... 

It was on a sunny May afternoon in 2012 that, after many moons, I accidentally bumped into Shobhon, in a programme at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London. When he heard about Debasish's involvement with cinema and theatre, he suggested that we get together and put up a play at the Season of Bangla Drama....
Subsequently, Arjun Sen, Adrika Sen, Shobhon Ahmed, Suchismita Ganguly, Debasish Banerjee and I met up and agreed to venture into the world of theatre. Shiblu Chowdhury and Samrat Sengupta joined us and thus started our theatrical journey which still continues...

On 24th July 2012, sitting in the french riviera during our summer holiday, Debasish penned his first script for Eastern Thespians, ARTHO (The meaning of wealth).

​Our Thespian family has grown since. Some have come and gone... but many have stayed... Wasim Makeem Javed, Urmi Roy Singh, Shrabanti Duttagupta, Nilanjana Sengupta, Raja Dutta, Koushik Chatterjee, Deyashini Mukherjee... to name a few...and of course our enthusiastic audience and patron group... without them our family would remain incomplete... 
We laugh and cry together, work and play together and above all, share the joy of theatre...
The stage is a magic circle, a neutral territory outside the jurisdiction of Fate where stars may be crossed with impunity. A truer and more real place does not exist in all the universe.
#londontheatre #easternthespians #stageshow #drama #theatre#westendtheatre #actor #nationaltheatre

On the threshold of starting preparation for our fifth production ‘After the summer’, a full length play in English, it is perhaps the right moment to look back and reflect on the question once again - why theatre?
The response to this will be diverse. Broadly categorised, the responses will have different flavours depending on whether they are coming from theatre practitioners, theatre lovers or people ambivalent to this area of performing art – admittedly there can be overlaps.
To set the ball rolling, I, as one belonging to the group of theatre practitioners, would draw your attention to the long history of theatre, its capability to attract and engage an audience through centuries, the great literary and artistic achievements attained through this medium and to its continuing capacity to question, evaluate and comment on the continually changing circumstances of human existence. However, others may argue that theatre is a dying art form, near obsolete in an audiovisual world swamped by flitting images and 'few-word captions'.
Should we question our own engagement with words and images?  Is our choice being shaped by forces that are short on substance? Has our ‘need for speed’ in fact worked to our disadvantage in the field of art and its appreciation?
Are these valid questions?
My friends, I open this discussion - the first of many to follow - and invite you to share your thoughts.