Public Obscenities is a 2024 bilingual play written by Shayok Misha Chowdhury'Public Obscenities' Review: A Perceptive Bengali Drama - Wall Street Journal which premiered Off-Broadway in 2023 at Soho Rep. The play follows Choton and Raheem, a gay couple, visiting Choton's family home in Kolkata for research on queer dating in India. For the play, Chowdhury was a 2024 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Plot Bengali-American Ph.D. student Choton, who speaks both English and Bangla, is visiting Kolkata with his African American boyfriend Raheem to film a "queer archiving project"."Public Obscenities" Triumphs Off-Broadway|The New YorkerTheater Review: Shayok Chowdhury's 'Public Obscenities' - VulturePublic Obscenities Sets NYC Return|PlaybillWooly Mammoth's 'Public Obscenities' is long on sight. Also, long. - The Washington Post
Production history The production first premiered Off-Broadway at Soho Rep on February 28, 2023, running through April 16, 2023 after multiple extensions. The show starred Abrar Haque as Choton, Dante Powell as Raheem, Gargi Mukherjee as Pishimoni, Debashis Roy Chowdhury as Pishe, Golam Sarwar Harun as Jitesh, trans activist Tashnuva Anan as Shou and NaFis as Sebanti. Chowdhury also directed the production.
The production received critical acclaim, with The New York Times lauding the "uniformly excellent cast and the deliberate pacing of a confident playwright," naming the production a Critic's Pick. The New Yorker praised the show as "extraordinary" and a "triumph".
For the play, Chowdhury was nominated for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play,The Pulitzer Prizes and won an Obie Award for direction. The production received five 2023 Drama Desk Award nominations, with the cast winning the 2023 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble.
In 2024, the production was revived Off-Broadway at Theatre for a New Audience with the same cast and Chowdhury again as director, along with a run at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. in 2023 from November 14 to December 23.
Cast and characters CharacterOff-Broadway 2023ChotonAbrar HaqueRaheemDante PowellPishimoniGargi MukherjeePisheDebashis Roy ChowdhuryJiteshGolam Sarwar HarunShouTashnuva AnanSebantiNaFis
Accolades YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.2023Drama Desk AwardOutstanding EnsembleCompanyOutstanding Direction of a PlayShayok Misha ChowdhuryOutstanding Scenic Design of a PlaydotsOutstanding Costume Design of a PlayEnver ChakartashOutstanding Projection DesignJohnny MorenoDrama League AwardOutstanding Direction of a PlayShayok Misha Chowdhury2024Pulitzer Prize for DramaObie AwardDistinguished Direction
See also Satyajit Ray – discussed in the play as part of the Bengali neorealist movement
References
External links Official website The New Times review of the play Soho Rep