Ashok Mukhopadhyay an eminent theatre personality from Kolkata is visiting the United States to direct a play at the 25th North America Bengali Conference to be held in New York during July 1 -4 2005. I asked few questions to Askok-da as I fondly call him on how he approached towards developing this play. Sudipta : NABC 2005 is celebrating 200 years of Bengali theatre through three plays covering the period. You have written the script and directing one of the segments. What part of this vast canvas are you covering in your segment Ashok : I have not actually written any script for my part of the production. I have selected scenes from some of the great plays written during the time-span and I am trying to link them with song-and-dance sequences to produce a theatrical collage. I am covering the period 1870 to 1944. Sudipta : What was your criteria in selecting the play segments Ashok : I selected scenes from some of the major plays by some of the major playwrights of the time. I wanted them to be various in appeal and approach ranging from the high satire of Buro Saliker Ghare Roa Modhusudan to the solemnly tragic note of Balidan Girishchandra from the comedic romanticism of Chirakumar Sabha Rabindranath to the musical rhythm of Alibaba Khirodeprasad and thus to the historicity of Chandragupta Dwijendralal to the garbed mythology of Karagar Manmotho Roy and finally reaching the agony and protest of Nabanna 1944 . Sudipta : What was your thought process in developing your segment Ashok : The basic thought grinding the selection of plays concerns the belief that theater provides the finest documentation of time and its flow. Theater intrinsically projects the truth about social transition placing human beings and their values against the correct perspective. I hope our production of the play-pieces will provide a commentary on the theater of the time as also on the social milieu producing the theater. Sudipta : Is this your first visit to North America Bengali Conference If so what is your expectation Ashok : This is my first visit to North America Bengali Conference. I am looking forward to a great week-end when Bengali culture will shine proudly in America projecting the multi-dimensional character of this dear and glorious tradition of ours. Ashok Mukhopadhyay an eminent theatre personality from Kolkata is visiting the United States to direct a play at the 25th North America Bengali Conference to be held in New York during July 1 -4 2005. I asked few questions to Askok-da as I fondly call him on how he approached towards developing this play. Ashoke Mukhopadhyay