Bhaan’s Jamai Barik and Durgapur Bhimroti’s Bhangoner Pathe; and a note of discontent

 Bhaan’s Jamai Barik and Durgapur Bhimroti’s Bhangoner Pathe; and a note of discontent

A couple of days back I had gone to Minerva Theatre to see two short plays by two lesser-known groups. The first produced by a group called Bhaan is an excerpt from the play Jamai Barik by Dinabandhu Mitra. The other one, Bhangoner Pathe, is a sort of a political commentary staged by the group Durgapur Bhimroti.

Mitra, better known for his play Nil Darpan, wrote Jamai Barik, a play taunting the process of husbands putting up at the in-laws and spending idle time, doing no work, in 1872 to celebrate the birth of the Bengali commercial theatre. Bhaan in commemoration of that great event produced this play, adapted and directed by Gouranga Dandapat. A very small portion, the first three scenes of the second act of the drama was selected, wherein Padmalochan the husband is seen having a hell of a lot of misfortune in satisfying his two wives, Bagala and Bindubasini. His brother Abhay and a thief make his predicament more so. Dandapat has shown ingenuity in his presentation where at the beginning he brings in a character who gives an introduction to make those uninitiated spectators who may not be aware of the play, informed about the background of the play. The director has very imaginatively and so very smoothly starts off the play using this character. He finishes off the play, too, using this same character through whom he breaks away from the Mitra script to rationalize his selected portion of the main drama. Dandapat showed his acumen in the role of the husband, with perfect diction, modulation, and a lot of well-designed physical acting. Both actors in the roles of the wives showed spontaneity in their performances. The player in the role of Abhay also acted as the thief, in which role he was excellent with his lanky physique and a fitting make-up. The introducing character was also perfect in her diction and expressions. The stage décor was appreciable so was the minimalistic lights and suitable background score.

The second presentation deals with the present political as well as the social depreciatory state we are living in. Picking out two events in the recent years Dipankar Sen builds up this presentation. The source materials, as announced, are two Facebook posts by Parimal Bhattacharya and Arka Bhaduri, respectively, on the beheading of the bust of Vidyasagar and the predicaments of the migratory workers. These two subjects have been dissected upon to reach to the basic denominator factor that defines the rampant and fast decadency that can be seen in every sphere of our society. And the form that Dipankar has resorted to, to narrate this is a form that may remind one of the Kathakata style, more or less, that was a common form for religious discourses once upon a time. But the basic point of departure was that elements of other forms of performance like dance steps and a few mudras, as also elements of   theatrical performance mainly acrobatic movements have also been incorporated. The performance of the actress did carry quite a heavy load.

Before signing off I would like to mention something not connected to the two productions.

In the break time between the two productions a member of an organization who are lately quite active to voice their protest against sexual abuse in theatre, was allowed to speak to the viewers. This is where I have a reservation. One may subscribe to the issue they are fighting for, and may have things to speak about also, but the theatre stage during a show is not the right space or the right time to voice the protest. The activists could well have met the spectators outside and speak to them. A spectator who has come to see a performance should not be forced to sit and listen to a speech from the stage in between the show. Moreover, at the end of her speech it was startling to hear that they have been told earlier in their respective groups to suffer such ignominy and go on working! It was a point of contention, but the listener had to keep mum for the sake of the show. Do such statements go well with the tradition of the group culture of our theatre world where iconic groups and their iconic mentors had made our theatre proud, and some of whom are still nurturing their groups, or for that matter the next generation of groups and their mentors, and even the generations after?

It was quite a disheartening experience that certainly mired the evening’s viewing.