Sudipto Chatterjee

Sudipto Chatterjee

Sudipto Chatterjee (Template:Lang-bn; born: 26 July 1964) is an Indian actor, playwright and poet. His play 'Man Of The Heart' capturing the life and the times of Lalon Fakir has been widely appreciated and revered.

Biography

Born in Kolkata to Sisir Chatterjee (a litterateur and Professor of English, Jadavpur University) and Tripti Chatterjee (a teacher, South Point School, Kolkata), Sudipto is the youngest of three siblings. Sudipto was influenced right from his childhood by the works of his neighbour the famous playwright, actor and founder-member of the Kolkata-based Bengali theatre group Nandikar, Ajitesh Bandhopadhyay. Sudipto wrote, adapted plays from his teenage and was awarded by the Government of West Bengal for his adaptation of the play "The Crucible" in 1984. After finishing school (Don Bosco School, Park Circus), Sudipto joined the presitigious St. Xavier's College, Kolkata to study English. It is during his time in St Xaviers, that Sudipto got involved in serious theatre with another stalwart of Bengali theatre, Ramaprasad Banik. Sudipto, along with his classmate, actor Kharaj Mukherjee, and acted in Banik's productions during this era. During this time he was also part of several television productions (as actor and screenwriter) and plays (in Bengali).

Sudipto, then pursued further study on dramatics at National Theater Institute, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Waterford CT, USA, and completed his Ph.D with distinction from the Tisch School Of The Arts, New York University, New York City, USA. During his stay in the USA, Sudipto wrote and ogranized various plays, working with Epic Actors Workshop.

He started his teaching career at the Department of Drama and Dance at Tufts University (1999-2003) and then the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies at University of California, Berkeley (2003-2007), before moving to the UK. He is currently a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the Department of English and Drama, Loughborough University.

Sudipto also, made a few short films and documnetaries, notable among which is "Free To Sing? The Music of Suman Chatterjee" a feature-length video documentary on music of Kabir Suman.

Sudipto performing - The Man of the Heart

Plays

• Khodāi/Chisel [full-length on the life of Camille Claudel, two versions in Bengali & English], work-in-progress.

• Othello’s Occupation [full-length in English & Bengali], work-in-progress.

• Man of the Heart [full-length solo-performance play], 2005-2012.

• Proteeti/Telos [full-length in Bengali], 2004.

• Rāt Juré, Parabaas (webzine), Vol. 1, No. 2-5, 1997-98.

• Ags´uddhi [adaptation of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”], S.A.S., Calcutta, Summer, 1988.

• Typist [adaptation of Murray Schisgal’s “The Typist”], Kolkata Du Hajar, Calcutta, April, 1987.

• Mukhomukhi [“Face To Face”, a play for the radio], Anamoy, Calcutta, September, 1986.

Translations

• Bisarjan, first full-length English translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengali play of the same name, commissioned by the South Asian Theatre Festival for the 150th anniversary of Tagore, New Jersey, Seagull Publishers (London, New York & Calcutta), forthcoming 2013.

• Indian Popular Theatres, London, Routledge (London and New York), forthcoming 2013.

• Annotated English translation Shudraka’s ancient Sanskrit play The Little Clay Cart in The Norton Anthology of Drama (Eds J. Ellen Gainor, S. Garner, and M. Puchner), WW Norton (New York), 2009.

• Rights of Man, English translation of Utpal Dutt’s Bengali play Manushher Adhikaré, with Neilesh Bose. Seagull Publishers (London, New York, Calcutta), 2009.

• “Christopher Columbus O Spain-er Rani Isabella-r Sangam Parinati, January 1492” [“Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, January 1492” by Salman Rushdie], in Alam Khorshed & Sajjad Chowdhury (eds.), Dwadas Kahini [12 Tales] (Cetana Prakasani: Dhaka, 1995).

• “Smrti: Bisad Nirjhar” [“La Memoria: Esa Fuente del Dolor” by José Camilo Cela], with Aniruddha Das and Alam Khorshed, in Alam Khorshed & Sajjad Chowdhury (eds.),Dwadas Kahini - [12 Tales] (Cetana Prakasani: Dhaka, 1995).

• “Poems of Joy Goswami”, Voice of Bangladesh, March, 1993.

• “Adāb” [ Samaresh Basu ], SAMAR, Fall 1995.

• “Suman Chatterjee’s Songs”, SAMAR, Winter, 1994

Poems

• Aniket Barnamala, Anustup (forthcoming).

• Poems published in Bengali periodicals: Anustup, Jijnasa, Yuktaksar, Desh, and Baromas(Calcutta), Chinta(Dhaka), Paricay and Prabasi (New York), Parabaas (webzine), Porshi (Northern California), 1984-present.

• In P. Lal ed., The Xaverian Treasury, 125th year Commemorative volume of writings from St.Xavier’s College, Calcutta, 1985.

Films and Documentaries

• DVD-ROM and web-based archive on the life and times of Lalon Phokir and the Man of the Heart Project, forthcoming 2013-14. Reference: http://lalon.org/.

• For Len Dixon (with Proshot Kalami), on Leonard Dixon a pioneering theatre educator from South Africa, 2007.

• Telling Tall Tales: Epic Women, a video documentary on Pandvani, a solo-performance tradition in Chhattisgarh, India, 2005.

• The Jewel in the Man/Manush Ratan, an album of songs by Lalon Phokir (nineteenth century 14 Baul and Sufi poet from the Bengali oral tradition) performed and recorded by self, Indiescope, 2005.

• Ni Chicha Ni Limona (Not Chili, Nor Lemon)/Lebu na Lanka , an album of modern Bengali songs with lyrics and voice by self (music dir: Samrat Chakrabarti), unpublished, 2004.

• Music Direction for Basana Brkhsamule, a Bengali version of Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms, Calcutta (India), June-July 2001.

• Free To Sing? The Music of Suman Chatterjee, a feature-length video documentary, 1997.

• Made in India in New York, 1996.

• (Dia)Sporadic, 6 min. short, 1994.

• Several television programmes and plays (in Bengali) in Calcutta (1975-89).

Awards

• Interweaving Performance Cultures, Fellowship at the International Research Center,Freie Universität, Berlin, September 2011-August 2012.

• Global Theatre Histories Project, International Partner/Member, Ludwig Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 2010-15.

• Loughborough University, Reward for Artistic Achievement (December 2007)

• Ford Foundation Visiting Fellowship in Manipur, India (December 2005)

• Presidential Chairs Fellowship (University of California, Berkeley) for teaching (2004-05)

• Committee on Research Grant (University of California, Berkeley) for continuing book project, Indian Popular Theatres (2004)

• Outstanding Achievement Award for directing Nuraldeen’s Lifetime, Drama Circle, New York(1999)

• Michael Kirby Memorial Award for Distinguished Dissertation, The Colonial Stage(d):Hybridity, Woman, and the Nation in Nineteenth Century Bengali Theatre, Tisch School of the Arts,New York University (1998)

• Best Director, British Council, Calcutta (1988)

• Best Director, New Directions Festival, University of Calcutta (1988)

• Best Production for Bengali adaptation of The Crucible, State Government of West Bengal,India (1984)

Academic Publications

• Indian Popular Theatres, London, Routledge (London and New York), forthcoming 2013.

• The Colonial Staged: Theatre in Colonial Calcutta, Seagull (London and Calcutta), 2007.

External links

• The Times of India - MoH review
• The Man of the Heart - Preview
• References - Sudipto Chatterjee - Cambridge Journal]
• Man of The Heart