Presented By: Epic Actors' Workshop, New Jersey
Playwright: Badal Sarkar
Director: Amol Palekar

At a linear narrative level, the play begins in the graveyard outside a village. Four men from different strata of the society - a chemist, a postmaster, a labor contractor and a school teacher - have come together to do the last rites of a dead, orphan, young woman. They sit beside a burning corpse; drinking, playing cards, waiting for the skull to shatter. They tease each other, crack crude jokes, and gossip about the unknown, dead woman. But as the night wears on, things start to change. The men's facades begin to crack. loss and yearning surface. anguish and regret overwhelm them. In the end, all of them cannot avoid facing a perennial question, why and why does a MAN tread warily, hold back, shield himself.Why?

Though the title of the play PAGLA GHODA is derived from a children's nonsense rhyme, its complex, layered structure probes the adult minds with many more questions

Who or what is this PAGLA GHODA -

Is it the undertow that pulls you into a tumultuous sea of emotions?

Or is it an unstoppable force that rampages through the body and heart?

Does it symbolize crazy love?

Does it epitomize Unattainable desire?

Is it a symbol of fulfillment and hope?

The audience is bound to derive its own answers to these questions - with incessant interpretations and relentless appreciation.

Badal Sarkar (1925 - ) is a famous Indian dramatist. He has written more than fifty plays. He is actively involved with Bengali theatre. He rose to prominence in the 1970's and was one of the leading figures in the revival of street theater in Bengal. He has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1972, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, in 1997.