Bengal is coming to Clayhall on Saturday night with the staging of a spectacular opera called The Maze of Illusion.

The performance is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the birthday of Nobel-prize-winning cultural icon Rabindranath Tagore who wrote it in the late 19th century.

For the past five months local musicians and artists have been rehearsing for the free event which is being held at Caterham High School.

It has been organised by the Bengali Cultural Association of London which is staging the event here because there is a strong Bengali community in the area.

Lead singer Bithi Purkayastha said: “The world premiere of Tagore’s The Maze of Illusion is a very special event and I am so privileged to represent east London in this production, singing the female lead Promoda.”

Performance director Dr Ananda Gupta, a leading UK Tagore expert, has created a unique piece weaving together five dance/drama extracts from the original work.

He said the majority of the words were in English and would be enjoyed both by Bengalis and the wider population.

He said: “Rabindranath Tagore wrote this at the request of students at Bethune College, a ladies’ college in Calcutta, so it is very feminine. He was 26 and had just got back from a visit to Britain where he was influenced by the culture here such as ballroom dancing. The piece is very strange, full of magic and illusion.”

And referring to the staging, he added: “This new production reflects the rich diversity of the cast and team. The choreography will be contemporary, drawing its cultural inspiration from classical Indian and Indonesian dance, and Western ballet.”

The Maze of Illusion - Pancha Deepa Mala is at Caterham High School, Caterham Avenue, Clayhall, Ilford at 7pm on Saturday, May 15.

More details at bcauk.co.uk