Parable of Autocracy: Sansriti’s KHOKKOS

 

Parable of Autocracy: Sansriti’s KHOKKOS

Browsing through different sites during the Russian aggression on Ukraine, I came across an article ‘Parable of Autocracy and the Human Spirit’ by one Cathy Young, where she states that on February 23, 2022, the day just before the Russian troops invaded Ukraine there was an article in the ‘Economist’ where it was written that to comprehend autocracy and ‘its corrupting effects on the human soul’ in the modern times, one should read the 1944 fairytale drama by the Russian children’s writer Evgeny Shwartz’s The Dragon which she says is ‘a trenchant political and philosophical parable in the guise of a fairytale’. She writes that the drama could be ‘an allegory for Vladimir Putin’s war’. But what intrigues one is that when Shwartz wrote the drama it was held in Russia as an allegory for Nazism!

The common man’s fight against an autocrat has been a common element whenever there has been a revolt in any country against the oppressive forces. History has shown us that the people’s indomitable strength always crushes the evil force whenever it tries to regulate the common man’s life according to its wishes and design. So, whenever and in whatever ways, in whatever language this play is produced it remains relevant as the force in power always rears a monster to do the dirty deeds. Many years back Ashok Mukherjee had done a play entitled Danab based on this Shwartz drama. At that point of time, one felt it was very relevant in the perspective of the then political scenario, just as this Sansriti production of the play Khokkos, penned by Arpita Ghosh localizing Shwartz’s play, seems absolutely relevant in this Modi era of religious monstrosity.

Watching the play at Academy of Fine Arts one felt that the play has been effectively successful in exposing the fascist monster that the saffron government in the garb of religion and in the name of preserving the cultural heritage of India is breeding and rearing. The viewers are assured that some day a prince would come and tear off the multi-faced mask of the ruler. It is sad that this Bengali play could not be updated as it was staged a few months before the ruler declared himself to be the son of God!

In the mounting of the play Debesh Chatterjee’s design adequately brings out the spirit of the play. With the consorted effect of his handling of acting, background scores, music and other theatrical ingenuities he could communicate something more than that is in the script. A few of these like the cat-nap and stretching of the cat before the start of the actual play, or the use of songs in between the scenes, or the sellers selling tidbits as happens during a football match in the sequence where the people watch the battle, or the cartoon-character secretary of the fashion-conscious ruler, are immensely enjoyed by the viewers as well as sensing the connotations they indicate.

The songs written by Anirban Bhattacharya and set to tune by Rupam Islam have been pleasing to the ears and also helps in the run of the play, as well. Shreyan Chatterjee’s background score has helped in building up the mood of every sequence. Make-up by Md. Ali and Debjit Pal is commendable. The light arrangements in the total scenographic design by Debesh need special mention. But Sanchayan Ghosh’s stage designing was clumsy enough to hinder a smooth viewing of the play.

The agility, the gestures, the diction as well as throwing of the dialogues of Abhra Mukherjee in the role of Roopkumar was simply marvelous, to say the least. He kept two of his fingers of both hands folded all through, to resemble the three fingers usually seen in the cartoon characters. this feat itself was outstanding. Buddhadev Das’s Khokkos and Korak Samanta’s Cat were equally good. So was Aniban Bhattacharya’s King and Nibedita Bhattacharya’s Manimala. Debshankar Haldar as Swapankumar was done in his own style.