Bichitra - Dak Ghar (contd-14)

Dak Ghar was written by Rabindranath in 1912 But since the actor to play Amal was not available it was not staged prior to 1917. Meanwhile, it was translted into English, titled " The Post Office" and staged at the intiative of W.B.Yeatsin Dublin in 17th May, 1913 and London in 10th July 1913 and Berlin and America in 1916.When Prasanta Mahalanabis told Rabindranath about Ashamukul, he became interested. But within a few days the mother of AshaMukul died and he was taken to Shantiniketan Brahmacharyasram and took his admission after summer vacation. The news relating to the rehearsal of Dak Ghar was first narrated by Sita Devi on 11 July, 1917. Asit Kumar halder wrote;
" On preliminary test it was found that though Ashamukul has taken the role of Amal but his performance was not upto he mark. At last Rabindranth handed over the charge for his improvement to myself and Dinuda. Both of us made him upto the standard and Rabindranth was satisfied."
The Dak Ghar was staged in Bichitra Hall on 10th Oct,1917. The different roles were taken by the following person;
Gaganendranath - Madhab dutta
Abanindranath - Kaviraj O Moral
Asit Kumar Halder - Dai walla
Rathindranth - Rajkaviraj
Rabindranath - Thakurda, Prahari O Baul
Daughter of Abanindranath, Surupa - Sudha
Rabindranather Chela - Soumendranath
Kavirajer chela - Deviprasad Roychoudhury.
Dakghar was staged on 11 Oct, 1917. There were some changes in the next show.