Dublin Theatre Festival 2013: Taramandal, The Tadpole Repertory

Bikram Ghosh, Cast Member and Production Manager, introduces us to Taramandal

Bikram Ghosh

So, it falls to me to introduce our play Taramandal to you. And I’d like to do that by telling you about two of my fellow actors: both of them play the same roles in the play – in fact, one has replaced the other for our current run – but as actors, they stand on different ends of a continuum (or is it a carousel?).

Tarun is a founding member of our repertory and he has as much ownership of/affection for this work as any one of us. Soon after our first run of the play three years ago, Tarun moved to Bombay to test his luck in Bollywood, in Bombay movies – pretty much the only success story in terms of making a living in show business, and also, pretty much the only acceptable marker for Success.

Every time we’ve decided to run the play, Tarun’s taken a break from waiting for work in the Industry to rehearse and perform the play. But this time, he has work: work he can’t sacrifice; work that will open doors in a city of crowded hallways. He isn’t pursuing work as an actor any more, though. He’s working as an assistant director

Sandeep Shikhar

So, we asked Sandeep if he’d be interested in doing a play about actors and ambition. Sandeep is an actor and writer in Bangalore, where he also partners his wife and parents his child. He’s about a decade older than Tarun, and has spent a good while acting in repertory theatre in Delhi and writing for TV in Bombay. Now in Bangalore, he works with the Indian Ensemble theatre company, which mostly comprises ex-IT professionals (or soon-to-be ex-IT professionals). The weather is generally a treat and he has laughter lines etched deep into his face. I suspect he gets bored every now and again. It’s nice.

The role we really needed Sandeep for is that of a casting agent in Bombay – a breed of gentlemen who Tarun has learnt a lot more about in the past few years, and Sandeep bid goodbye to many years ago. Other than the ones who he is friends with, and the ones his friends eventually became, of course.

It goes without saying that a scene shifts when an actor is replaced. It is remarkable to me, though, how this change has been wrought: the empty space Tarun left in this story about actors and ambition, to seek success in the Industry, has been filled by Sandeep, who left the Industry to seek success elsewhere.

Our play, ladies and gentlemen, is humbly about actors and, if you will, the Elsewhere.

Thank you.

Bikram Ghosh - Cast Member and Production Manager

The Tadpole Repertory, India