Fusion Downunder

FUSION DOWNUNDER OPENS TONIGHT!

2009-11-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

Fusion Downunder's grand opening is tonight at 8PM ARTS HOUSE, NORTH MELBOURNE TOWN HALL.

The show runs from Thursday 26th - Saturday 28th November.

BENGAL LIVE! features for ONE Night only at 4PM Sunday 29th November.

To take advantage of seeing both shows you can buy a combi ticket! please see all details below.

We hope you enjoy the show!

PURCHASE TICKETS at www.easytix.com.au

2009-11-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

To buy tickets to Fusion Downunder and/or Bengal Live! www.easytix.com.au

Tickets are $25 or $20 concession and there is a Special Combi ticket offer for only $40 concession $30 if you wish to attend both events. Group bookings for 5 or more $20 per head.

For all enquiries: P 04 3174 3045

WRITER - Pramita Banerjee

2009-11-16T12:55:00.000-08:00

Pramita Banerjee has lived in Kolkata, Kathmandu, Brisbane and Melbourne. Like most Bengali-Australians she is practiced at juggling multiple roles; she is a mother, an aspiring writer and a doctor. Her short stories have been published in local magazines and The Australian.

ACTRESS - Sumona Bhattacharya

2009-11-16T12:45:00.001-08:00

Sumona Bhattacharya is a trained dancer of the north Indian classical style - Kathak. She has performed is various plays, musicals, telefilm and radio plays in Melbourne and India. She has also produced children's plays.

ACTRESS - Aparna Bhattacharjee

2009-11-16T12:40:00.001-08:00

Aparna Bhattacharjee is a well regarded actor in the migrant Indian Community for her superb comedy roles. She is also a melodious singer. She participated in many multi-cultural events hosted by the Bengali Association of Victoria. Her anchor role in the stage production of “A Tribute to Motherhood” and in her comedy role in a subsequent Bengali Tele-film “Gondogol” brought her to the forefront of popularity.

ACTRESS - Dipti Kaipa

2009-11-03T00:51:00.000-08:00

Dipti Kaipa plays the part of Aparna. She is a Social Work and Psychology student, studying at RMIT University. Dipti has immersed herself in various cultural art forms form a young age, having been a student of classical Indian dancing and Hindustani classical music. Prior to Fusion Downunder, Dipti has acted in a number of community-run cultural dramas and musical/dance renditions.

ACTRESS - Nina Nicols

2009-10-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

Nina Nicols plays the part of Susan Pomfrett, she is a Monash Performing Arts Graduate who has also studied Shakepeare at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. As well as being an actress, she is also a writer, songwriter, singer and musician, who has produced her own show. She has many stage, film and TV credits including: Neighbours, Opera Australia, Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe shows and recently appeared as the Killer Ghost in the new Australian horror feature film, Damned By Dawn to name a few.

Regarding her involvement in Fusion Down Under, she is excited about the prospect of getting to do a little Bollywood dancing!

ACTRESS & CO-WRITER - Sharmila Gupta

2009-10-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

Sharmila Gupta has written many poems and short stories in both Bengali and English. She migrated to Australia in 1978 and having extensively travelled in country Australia she loves to write about the life and emotions of migrants and also the Australian bush. Her most recent works include “Fire” a poetry in English written after the devastating fires on Black Saturday, “Brishti” (Bengali for Rain) describing the bush flora and fauna eagerly waiting for rain, and “Ami migrant” (Bengali for I am a migrant”, from which a few lines will be used in “Fusion Downunder”.

THE CHARACTERS

2009-10-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

APARNA ROY (played by Dipti Kaipa.) A Bengali-Australian and a sharp-witted final-year medical student. Aparna does not suffer fools lightly though she is susceptible to intelligent charm. She also discovers an unexpected attraction to young men --- well, one young man at least --- who saves her from perils.

DEBIKA ROY (played by Sumona Bhattacharja): Aparna’s mother, and feisty when roused. She is also very committed to the value of one’s cultural heritage and the possibility of her daughter marrying a good Bengali boy. She is particularly worried, though, about her husband.

DOCTOR SATYA ROY (played by Mouli Ganguly): Debika’s husband and Aparna’s father. He often seems more concerned with the rise and fall of the Hawthorn Football Club than the cultural verities of Bengal. But Satya is above all a peace-maker. A pity then that he thinks peace will be obtained if he tells, yet again, the stories that he has told his wearied women a hundred times before.

SUSAN POMFRETT (played by Nina Nicols): An Australian University student whose enthusiasm for just about everything can sometimes conceal the fact she is actually very bright. Enthusiasm is her downfall, though, for she has a way of charging in where angels would fear to tread --- and then putting her foot into trouble with innocent but unerring accuracy.

CHAYAN CHOWDHURY (played by Raj Mukherjee) : A brilliant post-graduate student studying stem cells, on a scholarship in Australia. Aside from possessing a secret talent for rigorous night-club dancing, he is a deft hand at irony and dry wit, always choosing his words carefully. If one knew his mother, this trait would be totally understandable.

MADHABI CHOWDHURY (played by Aparna Bhattacharjee.) Chayan’s mother, a forceful woman to say the least. Back in Bengal, and then in Australia, after her son is physically attacked, she is rigorously determined to find the right sort of wife for her son. In fact if she had her way she would do everything fro her beloved son --- unless he makes a courageous stand?

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & ACTOR - Mouli Ganguly

2009-10-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Mouli brings a deep level of expertise in all facets of dramatics – direction, production, script writing, stage craft, make ups and acting with a string of successful credits. His knowledge of Bengali, English and Hindi enables him to adopt and present plays to the multicultural Australian audience.

He studied in the prestigious IIT (Indian institute of Technology) Kharagpur and IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Ahmedabad. At IIT, he was awarded the highest award - Order of Merit for Cultural Activities in recognition of his role as a director, actor and playright. He won multiple awards and rave reviews across India – from the Northern city of Lucknow to Kolkata and Dhandad in the East. The awards consisted of a number of best director, best play and best actor nominations. He was also Governor for both the Hindi and Bengali Dramatics societies. At IIM (in the west of India) he put up a Hindi and an English play once again to rave reviews.

" Australia is a multicultural society. The interplay between cultures that the migrants bring and their personal journeys create a rich tapestry which energises and enriches the Australian ethos. The play explores the cultural contrast and the changes that bring in the interaction between 3 cultures – the Bengali culture in India and the subcontinent, those of Bengali Australians settled out here and the mainstream Australian culture. The experience change the protagonists and their views of each other in a funny but practical sort of way. It builds on the personal experience of many members of the Bengali community who have been involved in developing the script and storyline."

THE DIRECTOR

2009-10-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Graham Pitts is a professional writer, director and organiser with more then forty plays and five documentary films to his credit. He is best known for his play “Emma --- Celebrazione!”, performed many times by major and minor theatre companies in Australia and overseas. He has won various awards for his work, including the prestigious Ros Bower Award from the Australia Council for the Arts.

2009-10-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

To buy tickets to Fusion Downunder and/or Bengal Live! www.easytix.com.au

Tickets are $25 or $20 concession and there is a Special Combi ticket offer for only $40 concession $30 if you wish to attend both events. Group bookings for 5 or more $20 per head.

For all enquiries: P 04 3174 3045

COMING SOON!

2009-10-10T23:13:00.001-07:00

Fusion Downunder is a bright, fast-moving comedy about Indian migrants living in Australia. It unveils the issues of culture-clash especially in regards to “love”. The production does not dodge the reality of attacks on Indian students even as it entertains and, in its own laughing way, celebrates multicultural fusion.