Sansriti’s BRAIN

 

Sansriti’s BRAIN

Sansriti’s production of BRAIN at the Academy of Fine Arts in February this year was in fact a very mournful nostalgic journey for all those connected with the production, be the actors, the people behind, or the spectators who have had the chance to see the production eleven or twelve years back when Debesh Chatterjee first staged it for his group. Of the three people acting out the three characters, one was Pijush Ganguly the natural talent of the Bengali stage who met with a fatal accident back in 2015. And so, for those who had worked with him on the stage or behind, or had seen him executing the role of a character who gets killed at the end of the play somehow experience an emotional feeling as the play progresses. And for those who were seeing the play for the first time experience a shock at the end of the play, theatrically.

Chemistry of our senses, of our sensibilities is in the core of the play written by Debesh. Debesh’s dissertation on Theatre and Neuroscience gave birth to this play which tells the viewers that whatever a man as an individual or as a social being does in reference to his surroundings and to those who belong to that surrounding and with whom he communicates and responds to, be it his wife friend or an outsider is a result of the neural chemistry of the brain. The playwright in the process of developing the play tells us how in human relationships this chemistry is so very unstable in nature. The storyline which has the excitement of a gripping mystery thriller binds the viewer to his seat and never lets him realise that a very deep and complex subject has been delivered with such ease.

Sarbajit, a film-star has an extramarital relationship with Damini, wife of his friend Santanu who is a non-compromising dramatist-playmaker. Lately Santanu has developed an interest on the brain and its working science. He explains to Sarbajit how the behaviour of a man, his gestures, his physical signs reflect his mind’s desires, his longings, his carnal greed. And frolickingly the Sarbajit-Damini relationship is exposed, and an unexpected climax awaits the viewer.

The subject of brain science and the way it performs is very unpretentiously communicated by Santanu to the viewer through very simple uncomplicated dialogues as well as some non-verbal hints. In a very simple linear story-telling progression Debesh mounts and builds up the play without indulging in gimmicks. The viewers enjoy the hidden suspense till the penultimate sequence. In the climactic scene the dramatist Debesh with the play-maker Debesh plays a game with the viewer’s suspense. The viewer’s brain is unprepared to comprehend what he sees on the stage, and so is a bit bewildered. And there wins the play-maker in the game with the viewers.

It is needless to say that a very strong acting skill together with a very deep involvement with the character being played is required in such psychological drama. The change-over of the character of Sarbajit is brilliantly done by Sujan Mukhopadhyay, and that requires some cerebral involvement. Damini by Bidipta Chakraborty is perfect in her delivery of dialogues and her expressions, particularly in the silent parts. Santanu, which was originally played by the late actor Pijush Ganguly, is portrayed by Debesh himself. His performance is a study of truthfulness as because through this pivotal character he could deliver his understanding of the subject on which he himself has done some academic studies. The parts where Santanu confronts Sarbajit would certainly remain etched in the minds of the viewers for long.

Hiran Mitra’s stage, Sudip Sanyal’s lights and Mayukh Mainak’s background score did help Debesh in furthering his design.