TWO TAGORE PIECES BY TWO WOMAN DIRECTORS

TWO TAGORE PIECES BY TWO WOMAN DIRECTORS

After a surfeit of Tagore based productions for the last two years the viewers had to some extent developed an antipathy, sort of, towards such productions. And to be candid the productions mostly did not merit much appreciation and were a ploy to acquire some kind of a dole from government agencies on the occasion of the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Bard. 

Yet another and I believe perhaps the last of the crop has been staged by Uhinee in the form of an adapted version of RAJA. Tagore himself had done a ‘stage-friendly’ version of this very difficult play and had christened it as ARUPRATAN. One wonders why this modified form of the play was not attempted by the team and instead an adaptation by Debashis Majumdar was done. This group a few months earlier had not very successfully staged a show based on different writings of the Poet (MORE OF TAGORE blog dt 5.12.12). This time, too, the production failed to impress the viewers.  Nothing seemed to click right and even director Adrija Dasgupta the pivot of the team failed miserably in performing both in delivering her dialogues as well as in singing the songs. Sheer exertion seemed to have taken its toll. She is definitely capable of better performance as have been proved in her earlier works. Her directorial work had redeeming features in the beginning though the use of the aisle of the auditorium speaks of no novelty. But the absence of any innovative elements in direction as the play progressed made the production a very dull run-of-the-mill exercise on the stage. The use of the different Tagore songs could not alleviate the plight of the viewers.

On the other hand PARULBON-E ROBI by Nirbak Obhinoy Akademi under the very able direction of Suranjana Dasgupta was a real treat for the viewers. This production, of course, is not one of the last crops of Tagore euphoria and certainly is not a result of an exercise to join in the band-wagon. I missed the earlier shows that were very limited in number, and so I made it this time. And I have been rewarded. The production may not be termed as a play in the strict sense as there are no fixed characters except that of Parul and there are no defined scenes, as such. The form depicted by Suranjana is rather a visual transcription of the correspondences that took place between an unknown young lady Parul Roy and the Poet during the last six to seven years of the latter’s life. Sharmila Moitra’s brilliant script, worked out basically from the letters together with Tagore’s other writings and different songs, brought out yet another facet of the Poet’s personality as well as the predicaments of young Parul coming from a very ordinary Bengali home with the strapping of the typical lower middle class values. She is portrayed bereft of any emotional innuendoes as is Tagore portrayed without the bogey of reverence that is usually found in such portrayals. Suranjana’s innovative powers have given shape to the script and thus an excellent production is that what the viewers are rewarded with. Every one of the actors did commendably and the co-ordination between them brought out the meaning of the moments admirably. Kathakali as Parul was superb in all respects of acting. She was so free in her deliveries, her movements, her use of space, and of course, her songs interspersed between her dialogues that viewers would certainly remember her work. The songs were executed perfectly by the actors and the liberties taken did not exceed limits. Sayan Bandopadhyay’s songs were an asset to the production as was the beautiful moments created by the director.

P.S. Theatre Workshop instituted Satyen Mitra Award for best original play for the year 2012 was awarded to Sharmila Moitra for PARULBON-E ROBI. Being a member of the jury I fully endorsed in the jury meeting  the view of the majority i.e. two of the three jury members and nominated her for the award though I had not seen the play till then. Fortunately before the date of the award giving ceremony I had the opportunity to see the play. I once again endorsed the views of the jury with a capital E after seeing the play. Though it is not a drama in the strictest sense I believe that Sharmila deserves the award for her originality in scripting the Tagore-Parul episode. So, I congratulate Sharmila Moitra for achieving this prestigious award.     

RECENT PRODUCTIONS ON THE CALCUTTA STAGE

RECENT PRODUCTIONS ON THE CALCUTTA STAGE

Of the recent happenings on the Calcutta stage a number of productions are worth discussing. Of these, in order of chronology comes Ballygunge Bratyajon’s ARDHANGINI, Ballygunge Swapnasuchona’s BELASHESE KOLAHAL, Howrah Bratyajon’s JAYOMAAN and Barasat Anushiloni’s CHHAYABRIKSHA. 

Ballygunge Bratyajon is a new team that together with three more groups have the brand name of Bratyajon and of course, the blessings of Bratya Basu. Their first production ARDHANGINI is an adaptation of Somerset Maughm’s The Constant Wife. The adaptation by Utpal Jha had also been staged with modifications by Meghnad Bhattacharya by a Bangaluru group sometimes in 2011. However, the present production scores its marks because of the very good standard of production on the whole as well as for perfectly bringing out the subtle nuances of the comedy of manners. Bijoy Mukherjee who has done his directorial debut in this play is an established producer of theatre with the professional touch that is not frequently found in the theatre world of this part of our country. His production of Kanyadaan under the banner of Swapnasuchona, with Bratya Basu directing the play apart from doing the bully’s role has remained a mile-stone in this world. Bijoy has proved himself in this new role though attention to details is wanting. Each member acted in their respective roles with perfect timing and almost faultless coordination. The production was able to convey the message that Maugham had given many many years before the movement for economic emancipation of the women folks had taken shape.

Bijoy Mukherjee’s Swapnasuchona, the team mentioned earlier is more a production company rather than a theatre-group. Rechristened as Ballygunge Swapnasuchona, the organisation has produced BELASHESE KOLAHAL, a play by Kajol Chakraborty and drirected by Sohini Sengupta. The play tells the story of a mundane middle-class life reaching its fag end to realise that dreams have remained unfulfilled, and in the despair finds simple reasons to rejoice and celebrate life.  The viewers at the end are thus gifted with a sense of well-being  – an experience rarely enjoyed after the curtains. Veteran thespians Swatilekha Sengupta and Biswajit Chakraborty have lived up to their names while the others perfectly worked out their individual roles. Tapan Sinha’s music played an important role in the production. But Sohini’s directorial venture did not have the finesse to deliver an unblemished piece of work. 

Howrah Bratyajon is yet another group with the popular brand-name. Their first venture, JAYOMAAN, is a play by Debashis Biswas, who is also the director of the play, and is based on a story by Amitabha Samajpati. The play portrays such a negative face of the society that one feels a sense of hopelessness till a positive character excellently played by the director comes on to the stage. But sadly this character turns to be surrealistic. Other characters are not well distributed and fail to build up a coherent storyline. However, the production can be proud of Tannistha Biswas who does a magnificent job in the role of a tormented young girl. The liberty taken to introduce obscene words in English cannot be justified and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Barasat Anushiloni’s CHHAYABRIKSHA is a play by the veteran Debkumar Bhattacharya and tells the story of the clandestine deeds of an organisation set up to facilitate brain-drain and leave the country bereft of intelligent persons. The play is directed jointly by Bijoy Mukherjee and Subir Mukherjee – a feat not seen in recent times. But the play itself is very weak in content and form, thus the viewers find little elements of interest to watch and viewing becomes drudgery. Acting is mediocre and even extends to amateurish performances. Production, too, is very unprofessional and that is very sad as the onus lies on no other than Bijoy Mukherjee whose earlier productions smacked of immaculate elegance. The most disappointing part is the brochure where umpteen horrible mistakes in the English language have put the credentials of the group in question. I cannot but resist from illustrating one such devil. In describing the virtues of someone who rejects devious wealth for human values, it states, “.... avaricious, honest, dedicated....”.