Stage Ensemble Theatre (SETU) and NetSAP-Boston presented the premiere of Subrata Das’ play, Rape, Regret and Retribution, an artistic rendition of a dark and twisted tale. The play was written and directed by Subrata Das and featured a cast of twelve South Asians. The production ran successfully for three consecutive nights at the Arlington Center for the Arts with approximately 180 persons in total attendance. 

Set in early 1990s, the portrayal of a life-changing event is at the heart of this play that unfolds in the dream of the main character, Jiten, played by Michael (Bunty) Dwan, who gave a stellar performance as the demoralized character. While his wife (Malini Varadarajan) and parents (Vasundhra Ganju and Kishanlal Chakraborty) plead for him not to move to the big city, he leaves them behind and finds a friend (Gagan Mahan), to whom he confesses his past. Not long thereafter, he becomes the center of a horrible crime, the rape and death of a young girl, Meena (Meghna Singhal), destroying her parents (Jignasha Makwana and Indranil Sarkar) who later move after their lives are shattered. Jiten's time in jail with confession to the security guard (Harun Razith) and final trial by the president (Abishek Nagrath) and opposing lawyers (Tejbir Singh and Ajay Jain) eventually led to an ending that shocked the audience.  The stage crew consisted of Pallavi Gupta, Ashish Gupta, Alok Asoor, Gagan Mahan, and Siva Shankar, who did an excellent job with stage, music, and lights.

The audience was captivated by the show and the acting abilities of the South Asian members of the cast/crew.  Sheila Rajan commented, “The storyline was engaging and the acting was very professional.  The play kept me captivated until the very last line!"  The audience also had a chance to enjoy scrumptious Indian food provided by Punjab Restaurant or Arlington during the intermission.  Overall, attendees enjoyed the experience, with an after-party at Bombay Club restaurant on the last night of the play, hosted by NetSAP-Boston.

The cast and crew are to be commended for their stamina through three consecutive show nights and almost four months of practice preceding the production.  This was Subrata Das’s first written play that he directed under SETU, for which he has directed other plays. This was the fourth production for NetSAP-Boston, with Theatrics Chair, Usha Govindarajulu as producer.  Tushneem Dharmagadda, NetSAP-Boston President noted, “Every year, NetSAP Boston's commitment towards theater and culture has been growing stronger and stronger....Rape Regret & Retribution is NetSAP's fourth successful production since launching the theatrics initiative in 2005. It has been a pleasure to support this initiative. We encourage all professionals to join us in this endeavor in promoting fine arts.”

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