Yesterday I got a tour of the Drama Department at my Fulbright host institution, Rabindra Bharati University. I will teach a workshop or two here later. Click the first photo below to see the slideshow of this incredible, well-appointed performing arts program.

Girish Chandra Ghosh

First, the head of the Drama Dept. took me on a tour of the facilities. Um, no, that's not him. This is a portrait of Girish Chandra Ghosh who was a renowned 19th century Bengali playwright.

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Othello

As with the Ghosh portrait, the posters lining the main hallway are dedicated to Bengali theatre during the late 19th and early 20th century as artists were struggling to find their own post-British identities. Here is a tribute to an all-Bengali production of Othello, a radical and financially risky act at the time.

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Macbeth

Ditto this production of The Scottish Tragedy.

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Hariraj (adaptation of Hamlet)

An adaptation of Hamlet into the Bengali language.

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Hariraj

Closeup of Hariraj photo.

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Department Head Shubhashis Halder

My tour guide, Professor Shubhashis Halder

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Costume & Puppetry room

The place is a hive of activity with surprises behind every door.

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Set Design class

These students were kind enough to pose for me.

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Set Design room

Busy students in every room.

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Department of Drama

Main hallway.

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TV studio

The video production classroom.

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Video production classroom.

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More of the main hallway.

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Outdoor amphitheatre

The department has an outdoor amphitheatre that also serves as a student hangout.

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Amphitheatre

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Freshman orientation

The proscenium stage was being used this day for freshman orientation.

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Freshman orientation banner.

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Tagore

Naturally there was a portrait honoring the school's namesake, Rabindranath Tagore.

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Sculpture department

Student work outside the Sculpture building.

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RBU campus

Main road through campus

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More of the campus. Lots of green space.

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Signs pointing the way. It's like a little town!

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Campus map

A beautifully laid out campus.

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More green space

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I love that one of the theatres is named after 19th century prostitute-turned-stage star Noti Binodini.

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And even more greenery.

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Beauty everywhere you look.

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The Drama Department is housed in this building along with other arts-related majors.

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Makeup class

This is out of sequence but these were students in the Makeup studio who were kind enough to pose for me.

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Graffiti

I loved this graffiti about rage on back of one of the doors.

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"Ahindra Theater Workshop"

The department is named after its founder, Ahindra Choudhury.

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Mine is not an official US Department of State website. The views and information presented are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the Department of State.

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