Sukumar Ray, a pioneering writer of nonsense verse from India’s Bengal and father of  legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray wrote the Bengali novella HaJaBaRaLa (Mumbo Jumbo). An original take on Ray’s characters – Boro Holo J (J Comes of Age) – conceived, written, and directed by University of Massachusetts professor and theater enthusiast Sankha Bhowmick is an award winning play, and will be performed on July 11th (7 pm onward) and 12th (6 pm onward) at the Marran Theater, Lesley University, Cambridge.

 Similar to Alice in Wonderland in genre, Ray’s HaJaBaRaLa starts with a boy waking up from sleep and discovering that his handkerchief has turned into a cat. From thereon, this boy who remains nameless continues to meet a series of fantastical characters that have gone on to achieve iconic status in Bengali literature. Bhowmick transplants these characters to today’s Manhattan in Boro Holo J - where along with the grown up protagonist who gets the moniker J - they unravel the maze of today’s urban jungle and the corporate world.

 Boro Holo J is acted by various local theater enthusiasts – most with roots in Bengal – currently living and working in the Boston area. The ensemble brings alive the genius of Ray in the form of modern satire on the universal theme of the good of the individual person pitted against the vice of collective societal forces.

 An experimental production, an abridged version of Boro Holo J won the best play, best director, best stagecraft, best actor, and best supporting actor awards at an Annual Spring Festival’s play competition held in the greater Washington D.C. area in 2014.

For tickets: online at   http://www.eventedge.biz/event/Boro-Holo-J-J-comes-of-age/189.html OR

Call: Sankha @8572054985; Souvik@7163100403

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