THEATRE BULLETIN – a journal of Chaturtha Matra
My first
encounter with Santanu Bandopadhyay’s work, as far as I remember, was way back
in 2006, perhaps, when I had the experience of viewing a non-proscenium form of
theatre at Sarala Memorial Hall of his group Total Theatre performing Shahzad
Firdaus’s Byas (Vyasa). Then many a year rolled by and after a number
of theatre activities of his group, I rediscovered him a few years back ‘doing’
theatre under the banner of Chaturtha Matra, a group he had formed together
with the veteran thespian Kaberi Basu at the latter’s Achira in Phuldanga, near
Shantiniketan. One may find it a bit awkward to see the phrase “doing’
theatre’. He certainly does theatre, for he has been, incessantly active,
notwithstanding the Covid months, in presenting a performance every first and
third Saturday of every month for the last eight years. The mainstay of the
presentations, of course, is Basu’s performance, which in every instance defies
her age. Their form of theatre which does not care for any commercial or rather
financial gains is a unique instance of presenting theatre for the sake of the
great art itself. The number of viewers for their performances has never been
their concern, as they diligently do their theatre nevertheless the poorest of
poor attendance. I certainly regret in not being able to include their form of
theatre in my book on theatre and the audience, Theatrer Darshak Darshaker
Theatre.
The present
blog is not about their theatre. I would make a try, I suppose, in my future
blog to deal with the type of theatre Chaturtha Matra is engaged in, in the
precincts of Achira. Today I would like to discuss about their journal, THEATRE
BULLETIN, that they have started publishing lately. It is edited jointly by
Kaberi Basu and Ashim Chattaraj, and is planned, I suppose, to be published
quarterly. The present issue is the third one in line and was published in
September.
The present
issue has substantial reading material for those who look for serious stuff in
these times of fluffy insignificant entertaining foolery packed in-between
slick covers. Those who love to indulge in cheap slanders doing the rounds of
the theatre world should avoid turning the pages of this 30-odd-page
journal.
The first
article [or is it an ‘editorial’ sort of?] is a very important piece about the
second production in their repertoire of 15 productions till now, CENSOR
Kara Sharir, which translates into The Censored Body. This production,
which unfortunately I did not have had the opportunity to see, is, from what I
gather from seeing their other works is the signature play of this group. This
has to be explained, and I propose to do it in my discussion on their type of
theatre. For the present it will be suffice to know for the readers that they
do not usually go in for a well-written drama, but they love to thrive on
materials that are subjects of different essays, articles, of for that matter
poetries, which they transform, usually done by Kaberi Basu, to give them a
performative form which may not strictly adhere to the literal definition of
Theatre. CENSOR Kara Sharir is a play that Kaberi Basu had written from
an article named Censored Body by Iranian theatre activist Hamid Taheri. One
gets to know about this person from this introductory article of THEATRE
BULLETIN, and why was it selected to be performed by Chaturtha Matra.
The next
article is by Kaberi Basu which is an essay on Artaud. The next two pieces are
by Santanu Bandopadhyay. The first one is about the philosophy that has
compelled him and Basu to do their kind of theatre since 2018 at Achira. This
is a very important piece for those uninitiated in the language and idiom of
the alternate theatre. His second piece is on the 77-year-old Serbian
performance artiste Marina Abromovic and her Art of Endurance. This is also a
very important and informative article that tells the reader about a performing
art form that involves some kind of hardship or challenge for the
artiste that tests the physical as well as the emotional resilience of the
artiste and also of the viewers. I personally have been enriched from this
article by Bandopadhyay. Another very significant piece is an interview by
Abhimanyu Bandopadhyay of Nahid Hassanzadeh, a film-maker from Iran, who was in
Kolkata for the screening of her film, Silent Glory at the 28th
KIFF. The conversation gives the reader a peep inside her own world as well as that
of Iran with all the trappings. This issue kicks off a regular column by Jayati
Basu about her journey across the theatre world. The readers would certainly
look forward to an engrossing travelogue of a thespian with a load of varied
experience. Three more articles have found their place in this issue. Bhumisuta
Das, a budding talent and Kallol Bhattacharya, a theatre practitioner of yet
another theatre form, have shared their ideas and thoughts with the readers.
Sujit Rej pens his thoughts on viewing theatre.
Awaiting yet another issue of the journal, I sign off for
the present.
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