By Sukanta Chaudhuri

Translated from the Bengali

The premiere took place on Friday, January 12th, 2007, 6:30 p.m. at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, with two more shows following on the 13th and 14th at the same venue. The show played before completely packed houses, on 12th through 14th January, 2007. Professor Greenblatt was present on the second night to witness this extraordinary stage event.

The press, media, and theatre connoisseurs appreciated the event - for its experimental slant, its thematic complexity and its stylistic innovations - as a major one in the contemporary theatre scene of Kolkata. By March 31, 2007, 11 performances of JAHA CHAI were staged, hugely appreciated both by students of theatre as well as the 'groundlings'.