The Death of Abbie Hoffman and Other Plays

A Montreal-based playwright, Rana Bose is part of Serai, an alternative cultural group which produces plays and publishes a literary journal. Born and brought up in Calcutta, his links with the culture of his native country remain strong. All three of the plays in this volume have an Indian link; in fact, The Death of Abbie Hoffman was adapted from Michhil (Procession), the milestone play by Badal Sircar, the father figure of avant-garde street theatre in India. On the Double shows how, for Asian immigrant women, the reality of their lives in Canada is no different from what it might have been in Baroda, Ghat Kopar or Beliaghata; and in The Sulpician Escarpment, the roots of the intricate plot lie buried in Calcutta of two decades ago. Hard-hitting, quick-moving, visually striking and very contemporary, these plays show Bose at his best. As he says, his aim is to give the audience a blast . . . plus serve thoughts to go home with. Political content has to be subtextual.