Nata-ranga’s JADIDONG: a commendable production

Nata-ranga is a group that has been seriously pursuing the art of theatre since long and their earnestness is reflected by their selection and staging of plays that do not merely tell the mundane stories of our daily life but have always tried to dissect out the complexities and controversies that often crop up as we move on in our lives. Sometimes we feel uncomfortable to even discuss the matters and prefer to sweep them off under the carpet. Interestingly Nata-ranga focuses on such problems and makes the viewers aware of the different ailments that spreads in our society untended. Unhappy marital life is one such agenda that we prefer to sleep upon lest the society blames incompatibility on one’s part. Their latest production JADIDONG is a dissertation on this trait of incompatibility and maladjustment that shatters an otherwise ‘good’ married life.

The present play which is written in a typical satirical form by Sohan Bandopadhyay tells the story of a couple who represents the multitude of ‘broken homes’ that we encounter in today’s world. Here the man and the woman are both well placed in their professional lives and have no strings attached. This has led both of them to have their ‘Shylock’s share’ in the building up of the home. So we find everything divided and bifurcated and that includes from the morning newspaper to every drop of the water that is supplied for the daily chores. The playwright has shown how silly things come up as points of contentions and the persons however civilised and sophisticated never yield in to give the other his or her rightful space.  Such a couple gets hold of a person from the court compounds to get their divorce procedures complete.  But this man is blatant enough to tell the truth about him being a fraudster who takes on the garb of a professional like a lawyer or an astrologer to exhort money from people in distress. But in dealing with this person the couple is subjected repeatedly to situations that point out the follies they are up to and their lack of accommodating the other’s views which in turn would have given positive results.

It would be interesting to note that the name of the play, JADIDONG, is a very important word in the Vedic wedlock mantra that puts conditions on both the groom and the bride. Sohan has deftly brought in this very vital aspect in his content.

The design of the production by Sohan has proved once again the very intense thinking process that always goes behind his every presentation. In the present work there is spectacularity and the form has a comical characteristic that has the very big chance of wandering into a light hearted clownish form. But the acting in the three roles and especially the work of Debshankar Halder as the third individual, who takes in the maximum load, prevents from that ordeal to take shape on the stage. Stage and lighting designs, music support and dress designing contribute equally to this laudable production.