Nata-ranga’s JADIDONG: a commendable production

Nata-ranga is a group that has been seriously pursuing the art of theatre since long and their earnestness is reflected by their selection and staging of plays that do not merely tell the mundane stories of our daily life but have always tried to dissect out the complexities and controversies that often crop up as we move on in our lives. Sometimes we feel uncomfortable to even discuss the matters and prefer to sweep them off under the carpet. Interestingly Nata-ranga focuses on such problems and makes the viewers aware of the different ailments that spreads in our society untended. Unhappy marital life is one such agenda that we prefer to sleep upon lest the society blames incompatibility on one’s part. Their latest production JADIDONG is a dissertation on this trait of incompatibility and maladjustment that shatters an otherwise ‘good’ married life.

The present play which is written in a typical satirical form by Sohan Bandopadhyay tells the story of a couple who represents the multitude of ‘broken homes’ that we encounter in today’s world. Here the man and the woman are both well placed in their professional lives and have no strings attached. This has led both of them to have their ‘Shylock’s share’ in the building up of the home. So we find everything divided and bifurcated and that includes from the morning newspaper to every drop of the water that is supplied for the daily chores. The playwright has shown how silly things come up as points of contentions and the persons however civilised and sophisticated never yield in to give the other his or her rightful space.  Such a couple gets hold of a person from the court compounds to get their divorce procedures complete.  But this man is blatant enough to tell the truth about him being a fraudster who takes on the garb of a professional like a lawyer or an astrologer to exhort money from people in distress. But in dealing with this person the couple is subjected repeatedly to situations that point out the follies they are up to and their lack of accommodating the other’s views which in turn would have given positive results.

It would be interesting to note that the name of the play, JADIDONG, is a very important word in the Vedic wedlock mantra that puts conditions on both the groom and the bride. Sohan has deftly brought in this very vital aspect in his content.

The design of the production by Sohan has proved once again the very intense thinking process that always goes behind his every presentation. In the present work there is spectacularity and the form has a comical characteristic that has the very big chance of wandering into a light hearted clownish form. But the acting in the three roles and especially the work of Debshankar Halder as the third individual, who takes in the maximum load, prevents from that ordeal to take shape on the stage. Stage and lighting designs, music support and dress designing contribute equally to this laudable production.   

MORE OF TAGORE

MORE OF TAGORE

One finds quite a number of productions on Tagore being staged lately and all related to the sesquicentennial celebration which is being stretched to a two-year happening, it seems. Though the anniversary had passed off quite sometimes back the doles offered by the central government have come in late and thus the groups had to have some preparation time. This late crop of productions that hit the Kolkata stage is a mixed bag of fares that range from plays written by Tagore to adaptations and presentations based on his writings.    

Bratyajan in their festival themselves presented Tagore’s comedy CHIROKUMAR SABHA under the direction of one of the most distinguished directors of today’s Bengali theatre, Debesh Chattopadhyay. His last work DEBI SARPOMASTA had enthralled the audience due solely to his excellent directorial competence. But sadly one finds not an iota of a director’s presence not to speak of any suggestion of his work in this production which happens to be the fourth of this group and the first not under the tutelage of Bratya Basu. Why was the script done by Tagore himself not followed was difficult to comprehend. It was pathetic to watch the members of the group in different roles simply at loss on the stage not knowing what to do except blurting out the lines. The presentation failed miserably and the viewers missed the Tagorean touch that gives this comedy its time-defying popularity. 

Adrija Dasgupta and Senjuti Bagchi have prepared a script for Uhinee’s BEJE OTHEY PANCHAME SWAR that mainly tries to focus on the socialistic thoughts of the poet. In doing so the script is full of long excerpts from his different essays and letters with a few songs and poems, and bits of dramas inserted here and there. And so the script takes up the look of a seminar lecture rather than a stage presentation. Choosing from Tagore’s repertoire needs a lot of extensive study and it becomes rather frivolous if portions of his writings are taken at random depending on a few references or phrases that match up to the theme in mind. The bits of the plays that are presented are more as illustrations of the ‘lectures’ rather than as examples of the dramatic creations. The dialogues are delivered as if in one shot with no pretence of acting with the actors rambling off their lines in faulty intonations and pronunciations. Adrija who had proved her directorial acumen in a number of productions of the group failed in the basic planning in the present production. The stage design initially went well with the run of the play but later the stage with its piled up props was a distraction for the viewers. But lighting design, if there was any, was the biggest culprit.

Gobordanga Naksha’s GHARE BAIRE is one of the better fares that the viewers were able to enjoy among these late sesquicentennial celebrations. Arindam Sengupta’s adaptation of the novel did not attempt to override the original and so for the uninitiated viewer it was pure Tagore though abridged.  Ashis Das, who has created a niche for himself in the Bengali theatre world, has reached another high mark in his career in this production. This is one novel of Tagore that not many have attempted to stage. Ashis with his sheer grit and a very dedicated group situated far away from the city has taken up this challenge that many a well-placed Kolkata group has not attempted. And the brightest point is that there is not an iota of Satyajit influence in the entire production. The characters have been very well presented with the right emphasis to each. The roles have been performed keeping true to the script. Sanchayan Ghosh’s stage though well designed was not fully utilized. Badal Das’s lights and Swapan Banerjee’s music support were just adequate. Panchanan Manna’s make-up and Debashis Dutta’s dress were perfectly done.

Raja Bhattacharya’s Blank Verse wanted to project the multifarious problems that are gnawing the society today through his play THE GREAT NEW LIFE which is primarily aimed as a tribute to Tagore. But in doing so the viewers are led to a milieu of incidents that seem to lose the bearings, and in the process Tagore gets a backseat. But the commendable part of the production is the perfect synchronised acting of the members and a very well executed dress designing, stage, lighting and music planning.

Beadon Street Subham has been working with children and teen-agers since the last twenty five years. As a tribute to the poet they produced two plays. The first one being the poet’s own DAKGHAR and the second one is Subhashis Gangopadhya’s JAKAN DAKGHAR AACHHYE AMAL NEI, a play based on ‘Dakghar’. Under the able direction of Pankaj Munshi the young boys and girls seemed to love doing their allotted roles in the first play and that exactly what the Poet had tried to say all along in his different works. The basic spirit of the play was very well portrayed. The stage planning was though a bit cliché ridden. In the second play Subhashis had brought about a social angle that is very much evident in the present times. He proposes that instead of Amal if Sudha was to grow up in Madhab Datta’s household, she would have to be confined in the room because of the various social stigma that imprison the girl child in our society. Subhashis had kept to Tagore’s play as far as establishing the spirit of the play that we mentioned earlier. It was no need to make Sudha bed-ridden due to a fire in the flower garden. However, such a Tagore based play had not been witnessed in the Tagore celebrations that had just passed off.

 

KHELA BHANGAR KHELA : Ushnik’s unique tribute to Tagore

KHELA BHANGAR KHELA : Ushnik’s unique tribute to Tagore

        The name of the production happens to be a line from one of Tagore songs,   ‘‘ Aaj khela bhangar khela khelbi aaye ’’ where the Poet beckons the world to join him in the celebrations of the Spring time by breaking away from the shackles of the mundane and defying the rage of the Nor’-wester. This theme has nothing to do with the Ushnik production under the baton of the playwright-director Ishita Mukherjee. But the similarity lies somewhere else. The concept of the production has something in common to the Poet’s call to break away from the known path. Ishita views some of the Tagore characters in their changed sexual image. Though the gender of the characters has been mutated in the presentation, the purpose of their being remains unchanged. And that is where she forces the viewers to try to understand the deeper aspects of the Tagorean philosophy.

          Ishita has picked up twelve characters from six Tagore pieces. In each of the instance except one, the viewers confront the characters in the opposite gender to the one Tagore had portrayed them in his works. So we find a young girl instead of Amal and a female singing minstrel instead of Thakurda in ‘Dakghar’. The viewers find that the thirst for the unknown remains the same no matter whether it is a young boy or a young girl, and the dream-merchant can also be of any sex. So are the basic characteristics like love, possessiveness, jealousy, etc., expressed regardless of the gender.  When Labanya becomes an iconoclastic young man in ‘Shesher Kabita’ and Ela in ‘Chaar Adhyae’ recites out ‘Prohor sheser aloye ranga…’ or for instance, Atin speaks out the departing lines like ‘‘Aamar chaitanyer shesh muhortyo tumi-I nao’’ and Sandip of ‘ Ghare Baire’ is a woman who does not hide her ambitious image that is seen amongst many a woman political leaders that we come across very often, or Raghupati in ‘Bisarjan’ is represented by a woman Kali-worshiper who cannot hide her love and care for Jaisingha, the basic human traits are presented no matter what the gender is. Then Ishita as a contrast presents Bipradas and Kumu of ‘Jogajog’ in their original genders and thus proving her point of view strongly. But at the end the tone is disturbed when the young girl as Amal asks a very poignant question which betrays the basics of Tagore’s views of life. Excepting this portion of the script the content has been well dissertated.

       As for the production it can be said to be flawless. There were established actors as well as young talents and everyone did their parts commendably.  In spite of the hassles of presenting a play that the groups are facing after the so-called renovation of the Academy stage Ushnik did a well-done job. With limited props Somnath Dutta’s stage design together with Joy Sen’s lighting plans did help the play especially when bits of different pieces had to be presented in succession. Music by Abul Chakraborty, too, helped in the run of the play. But the most striking feature of the production has been the designing of the dresses of the different characters. Dress designing had been done keeping the context in mind and such meticulous observance is rarely seen in the productions even of celebrated groups.  

Lastly, it should be mentioned that the financial support from the central government has certainly been well utilised.

A FEW NON-TAGOREAN PRODUCTIONS

A FEW NON-TAGOREAN PRODUCTIONS 

      During the last two years almost, not many productions have been put on stage that have no connections with Tagore or with his works in the remotest sense. It is also worthy of mention that of the non-Tagorean plays staged in these times most of them have proved their worth and have received favourable responses from the viewers in spite of the flooding of theatres with Tagorean productions. Most of them have been discussed in my earlier blogs. Presently our discussion centres around a few that we have not discussed as yet. 

      Minerva Natyasanskriti Charcha Kendra’s Minerva Repertory’s second production DEBI SARPOMASTA is one of the significant non-Tagorean productions that hit the Bengali stage sometimes in the second half of 2011. Monoj Mitra had written this play many years earlier, perhaps in 1995, but was never staged until the Repertory under the very able direction of Debesh Chattopadhyay made it possible with a bunch of young actors who are being bred as members of the Kendra. Beautifully orchestrated team acting is an asset for the production. It was fascinating to watch the actors utilizing every space available including the aisles of the auditorium, not for the sake of it but on purpose. A lot of kudos is due to the director for having composed very many engrossing frames. In true repertory style the actors took part in the other departments of the production also like sets, décor, lights, music etc.  Basically a musical, the play is based on the sylvan folklore depicting Nature in all its beauty and fury. Dhamsa, madol, flute, dotara and such folk instruments with fitting choreography have been used for designing the music in the folk tradition with the guidance of folk musician Abhijit Acharya.

      Mangalik and Sanglap Kolkata presented two plays on very important social issues plaguing the society today. While the first group presented, MALLABHUMI that pointed at the perils of a common man at the hand of the land promoters and real estate sharks, the other group in its play, NIRASHRAY, dealt with the complex problem that may come to one’s life which may threaten the human relationship that gives shape to a happy family. A very ordinary play by Mohit Chattopadhyay, MALLABHUMI had been turned into a worth seeing drama by sheer devotion and dedication by the members of the group. Samir Biswas had to take a big workload in the role of the protagonist as well as the director of the play. NIRASHRAY, written and directed by Kuntal Mukhopadhyay is based on a story by Sudip Sen.  The viewers are made to involve in the building up of the story on the stage. The production can be credited with an all-round neatness.

      Oihik has been a serious group since it came into being some years back and has been regularly producing dramas worth mentioning. This year they deviated from their trodden path to present a musical presentation named MAHORA CHOLCHHE, designed by Arindam Roy and focussing on the songs of theatres of the bygone era starting from Giris Ghosh’s ‘Chaitanyalila’ of 1884 to Bijan Bhattacharya’s ‘Nabanna’ of 1944. About sixteen songs have been incorporated taking from the works of Amritalal, Kshirodprasad, Nishikanta, Rabindranath, Apareshchandra, and Mahendra Gupta. Each song is acted out as it had found its place in the respective play together with the stories that went around about the actors, playwrights and others who contributed in the history of the Bengali theatre. An in-depth study by Roy and a well designed production have given the presentation a great academic value that also is a pleasure to watch.  

      A very popular drama from Bangladesh was invited in another newly initiated festival organised by Bratyajan. Theatre, one of the most reputed groups from Dhaka presented BARAMKHANA written by Pantha Shahriyar, enthused by Sunil Gangopadhyay’s ‘Moner Manush’.  This group was born way back in 1972 and the legendary thespian couple of Bangladesh, Ramendu and Ferdousi Majumdar has since been a major strength of the group. It is due to Bratyajan that the present generation of theatre-goers of Kolkata got the opportunity of seeing them on stage under the able direction of their daughter, Tropa Majumdar. This reviewer has been fortunate enough to have witnessed way back in 1986, one of their outstanding productions, ‘Payer Awaj Paoa Jaye’, the first lyrical play of Bangladesh written by the famous poet Syed  Samsul Haque and directed  by Abdullah Al-Mamoon. The present play dealt with the problem of how Lalan Fakir’s philosophy is being gobbled up by the coterie of religion, politics and business.

      Bratyajan in this festival had a revival of Bratya Basu’s first staged drama, ASHALEEN. Purba Paschim is credited for choosing to produce this play that Bratya had written twenty five years ago. It was staged in Kolkata in 1996 and Bratya had done the role of the protagonist then. After sixteen long years the play remained as fresh as ever and credit is due to the director, Biplab Bandopadhyay, of course. A very well presented drama with all the departments of the production doing their jobs excellently, this play would certainly merit as one of the most important happenings on the Kolkata stage in the recent times.

      Long back in 1966 a few members of Nandikar disassociated themselves from the group and established Theatre Workshop, and since then they have been incessantly staging plays of different sorts and flavours. But none of these productions compromised on the standard it had set in spite of its prolificacy.  On the occasion of their 46^th anniversary they presented their 50^th   production, a play by Sumitro Bandopadhyay, MUCHHE JAOA DINGULI. A destructive political activism of the late 60’s and the early 70’s that had shattered the very foundation of the middle-class urban society has been focussed bringing horrid memories for the elderly generation, and on the other hand exposing the younger generation to the bitter fall-out of that period. As usual for a Theatre Workshop production, acting of every role is performed to perfection under the very dotting eyes of the much experienced thespian-director Ashok Mukhopadhyay. Murai Roy Choudhury’s music played a vital role.

      Another important production that has no links with the Tagore celebrations is Anukar Natya Sanstha’s SHISYA-UPAKHYAN, drama by Subhas Sengupta. This drama deals with a vital problem that plagues the Kolkata group- theatre world of today without any signs of amelioration. Group-theatres came into being after a long felt need of a purposeful theatre, away from the influences of the fully commercial Hati Bagan genre. And after much struggle giants of the Bengali theatre world could establish this particular genre of purposeful theatre in the 50’s. Contributions to the theatre world by these groups need no introduction and today Bengali theatre owes its existence totally on this culture. But sadly the basic character of the group-theatre is wanting amongst most of the groups and so there is little consistency in the productions. A very demonic commercial outlook has lured the groups to rent in professional actors doing big jobs in cinema and television serials for a production, and thus selling out the house without considering the ideals of the group-theatre culture. The production has all its departments well tuned under the baton of the playwright-director, Subhas Sengupta. 

TASHER DESH of Shohan

TASHER DESH of Shohan

Tagore finishes off ‘Ekti Aasade Galpo’ (An Absurd Story), one of his absurd short-stories in an optimistic note on the ideal situation for a free man in a free society. Roughly translated into English it goes on like this, ‘Instead of remaining an innate innocent under some insurmountable dictum now they are either good or evil according to their own wish’. How better can one describe a free society? After forty years, in 1933 he designed a symbolic play on this short-story of his and named it TASHER DESH. Full of songs with invigorating lyrics with mirthful tunes this drama has become a symbol of a society which revolts against and discards everything that is stale and old and spent up, and welcomes the new wind of change that ushers in new life. In Calcutta TASHER DESH had been a signature production of Suchitra Mitra and Dwijen Choudhury’s Rabitirtha. They even staged a version named ‘Ekti Aasade Galpo’. The then very popular Santiniketan Asramik Sangha under the indomitable stewardship of Kshemendramohan Sen had staged this drama throughout the country and the production had become a benchmark of some sort. Many troupes had produced this drama on the Calcutta stage but in the form of a dance drama with the singers singing behind the stage and renowned danseuse performing the leading roles. These productions did not take care of the Tagorean dramatics that is very much apparent in the drama. During Tagore’s times this drama was produced in Santiniketan and in Calcutta with Santidev Ghosh doing the role of Rajputra and has become a legend both in the forms of dance and dramatics. 

This prelude is for an appreciation of a Shohan production of TASHER DESH that is being staged in Calcutta presently. Ujjwal Chattopadhyay is the dramatist of this version of TASHER DESH. He is a very innovative playwright of our times and has been equally successful in both original plays as well as Tagorean adaptations. Shohan’s earlier production of MANBHANJAN was also his handiwork on one of Tagore’s short stories and I take this opportunity to quote myself from one of my earlier blogs where talking about Shohan’s production of MANBHANJAN I said, “The primary point that strikes the viewers is the diligence with which the group tried to present Tagore without any attempts of overstepping. It is a difficult job well done and requires a carefully crafted dramaturgy, done here by Ujwal Chatterjee that included necessary additions and alterations without tampering with the Tagore flavour.” In the present production Ujjwal has done it in the same way keeping true to Tagore. The viewers are comfortable with this version of his as he has never tried to forcefully bring in contemporary or rather present-day socio-political look to the characters. Very delicate nuances in the dialogues communicate social commentaries that bring out the rat-race of the modern lives. Other Tagore songs that fit in well with the run of the play have been added giving the drama its own identity. 

Gautam Ghosh’s music required a little more intervention though it went well with the performances. Hiron Mitra’s stage had much to be desired as was the dress-designing and colour schemes though Ashok Pramanik's lights were without fuss. Teamwork of the actors on the stage is perfectly coordinated and it is without any inhibition that one would agree that such disciplined movements are a rare treat. Everyone acted their hearts out, so as to say. Such spontaneity in each of the actors could only be achieved when the Tagorean spirit is infused into the members by the director. Anish Ghosh has once again proved his mettle in composing scenes on the stage and is, no doubt, successful in handling a production that is very much different from an ordinary drama. 

MACBETH – Shakespeare & Swapnasandhani

MACBETH – Shakespeare & Swapnasandhani

The first reference one gets of the staging of a Bengali translated version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is of an attempt by Giris Ghosh after he took over the charge of the Minerva Theatre. That was in the year 1893. It was an outright flop. The theatre-goers of the then Calcutta did not like the production. Excepting for Ardhendu Sekhar Mustafi who performed in four roles – Witch, Porter, Old man and Doctor – none of the actors could satisfy the audience who were no less Giris fans. Later in 1897 Giris staged Hariraj, a Bengali adaptation of Hamlet – and it was an instant success story. Giris had interpreted the failure of his Bengali Macbeth as a failure on the part of the ‘uneducated and uninitiated’ Bengali viewers to grasp Shakespeare. He also commented that the viewers were relieved to witness Abu Hossain, the production that followed Macbeth. In 1919 the Bengali version of Othello was equally rejected though the first night was a bumper. It was the great thespian of that age Amar Dutta who could identify the main reason for the audience apathy for some Shakespeare productions. He said that the viewers loved and enjoyed the adapted versions instead of the translated ones. He produced Saudagar, a Bengali adaptation of Merchant of Venice and it was a hit.  Whenever Shakespeare or for that matter any foreign drama was adapted to an Indian setting to which the audience could identify themselves – the production was a success.           

One finds Sisirkumar Bhaduri in his long association with the Bengali stage had never attempted a Shakespeare. In the later years there have been a number of Bengali translated productions of Shakespeare, Macbeth also being among them, and  of which this writer had seen a few –  but they have not registered in his memory as such.  But it is also true that many of the original Shakespeare plays have flopped in London itself. And among them are highly starred productions like the one of no other than Sir Laurence Olivier.  It is interesting to note that in the context of the freeing of Haiti, Orson Welles produced his first stage production, Voodoo Macbeth. And Akira Kurosowa’s The Throne of Blood has been a milestone among classic movies.

Recently the Kolkata theatre scene is witnessing a spurt of Shakespeare plays. Among them is Swapnasnadhani’s Macbeth. The play has been adapted by Ujjwal Chattopadhyay. William Shakespeare, it is believed wrote The Tragedy of Macbeth sometimes in 1605-06 and the earliest performance of the play is recorded sometimes in 1611. What-so-ever, this play is regarded as the ‘bloodiest’ of all Shakespeare tragedies as there are a number of cold-blooded murders all of which are directly or indirectly committed by the ‘hero’, Macbeth.  The portions of the original that have been kept in Swapnasnadhani’s version have been aptly translated. Swapnasandhani as a very serious group involved in theatre activism always attempts to mirror the socio-political scenario prevailing in West Bengal. In this present production, nonetheless, one never fails to identify the worthless,  good-for-nothing Duncans in our polity, or the over ambitious ‘immortal’ Macbeths, or the Lady Macbeths who help Macbeths to achieve their aims and then they themselves commit suicide, or the Macduffs who remove the Macbeths from the throne and put Malcolms instead, or who the immature inept Malcolms are, who get the throne, rather by default. However, one may say that the interpretation of the play as done by Swapnasadhani without distorting the original structure, surely is one of the appropriate ways to present Shakespeare to a non-Anglo audience.

In performing in Shakespearian roles especially in the key ones, the actors are constantly challenged to keep to a form of acting that would fit in to the contemporary style of acting without treading on to melodramatics that the form of the play would always entertain. The rhyming and the lyricism in the long monologues and dialogues in the Elizabethan language tend to weigh heavily on the actors. This is equally true in translated versions as well. All the various aspects of the art of acting like,  physical movements, facial expressions, speech enunciation with appropriate diction keeping to the desired syntactical form of the compositions, voice modulations and pitch variation, have to be perfected in order to portray a  Shakespearian role such as that of Macbeth or the Lady. Undoubtedly, Koushik and Reshmi Sen have proved just that to the Bengali theatre-world. Koushik has set a standard, a benchmark, in portraying the pivotal role of a Shakespeare tragedy. The Bard had created Macbeth as the hero whose ambition turns him into a villain, and for whom he imbibes a pinch of remorse and empathy in the heart of the viewers which, as a matter of fact give the play its tragic tone –  Koushik has impeccably created this multilayered complexion of the role. Kudos – unlimited – is for him. Reshmi had a very difficult role to portray as the viewers would never have the slightest feeling for Lady Macbeth who for them is an outright villain. Among all of Shakespeare’s female characters the Lady is his cruellest and the most complicated. A lady who is ready even to discard her feminity to make her husband kill the King requires an actor who can bear a very heavy work-load on the stage. Reshmi has made it with full confidence. Praises are galore for her.

As for the others, the actor, whose name was not available, in the Porter’s role was praiseworthy. So were Siddhartha Banerjee’s Banquo, Nabanita Basu Majumdar’s Gentlewoman waiting on the Lady, Ashok Ghosh and Dibyendu Nath as the two Murderers. Kanchan Mullick’s Macduff, Sushanta Basu’s Duncan and Subhro Saurav Das’s Malcolm were a bit weak portrayals. Special mention should be made of Paramita Saha, Riddhi Sen andSudarshan Chakravarty as the three Witches. 

As Shakespeare has never elaborated on the stage-settings in his plays, it requires imaginative planning, and Soumik-Piyali’s stage and Joy Sen’s lights did well to create the perfect ambience and give the required visual support. Gautam Ghosh’s music as well as Reshmi Sen’s dress designing, too, enhanced the relevancy of the content. Koushik Sen’s directorial capabilities reached another height in this production as planning and execution were perfectly done for this magnum production.

Before signing off let me as a viewer extend my deep apologies to the team for disruption created by a fellow viewer who could not resist exchanging pleasantries with his acquaintance on the cell-phone at the middle of a scene being performed on the stage. God help us!!!!           

MONOJ MITRA’S FUNTASTIC ASHCHOURJYO FUNTOOSI

MONOJ MITRA’S FUNTASTIC ASHCHOURJYO FUNTOOSI

The Bengal theatre world is elated!

Once again Monoj Mitra has come on stage with his latest play AASHCHOURJYO FUNTOOSI produced by his team Sundaram. After Jaa Nei Bharate it has been quite a few years that the Bengali theatre viewers have been deprived of his FUNTASTIC stage presence. It is Monoj Mitra the playwright-actor-director all the way as usual in this latest production. So it is nonetheless an occasion to rejoice for the theatre lovers of Bengal.

This time playwright Monoj has based his plot taking a leaf out of Ramayana. The epic of Valmiki has been modified in its sub-content, so to say, in order to elucidate a very important point-of-view that Mitra finds pertinent as well as relevant in the body of the basic text. Instead of focusing on the plight of Sita in the hands of her captor Ravana, Mitra delves into the predicament of all women in the patriarchal society  that exists today as was in the supposedly Rama’s times. So the playwright decides to introduce a female character to emancipate the women folk tied in fetters. In the original text it is the Hanuman who leaps out to Lanka in search of Sita but Monoj has preferred to replace the mighty ape with his female edition with the name Hanumati keeping to the logic of the nomenclature followed in cases like Sreeman-Sreemati and such others in the Bengali language, and also keeping to the conviction that women’s problems can best be solved by women themselves.

The original text of Valmiki fell in the hands of a thief who brought about the different changes and adapted it for his theatrical group which in turn has been performing this so-called ‘Sita-haran Pala’ for generations. The play tells this adapted story of the abduction of Sita and the subsequent freedom of all women. Hanumati goes to Lanka in a Mayurpakshi boat and finds a whole lot of women members of Ravana’s household confined to different situations not to their individual likings. She finds a gouty Mandodori deserted by Ravana, a forlorn hash-addicted Bajrajwala frustrated in her conjugal life with the perpetually sleeping Kumbhkarn and the ambitious Sarama who never finds her match in Bivisana. For Hanumati it is a revelation to find that these ladies are no better than Sita confined in the Ashoka forest. So she decides to rescue all of them together with Sita and sail out of Lanka. Kalnemi gives them his newborn girl child so that she will grow up a free individual. Sita tells them that she will not go back to Rama as she had been a prisoner of sorts in the Ram-rajya much before Ravana abducted her. So they steer the Mayurpakshi away from the fiefdom into a new world.

The different un-Ramayan situations like Hanumati creeping into the bed under the mosquito net and the blanket of the sleeping Kumbhkarn or the Chief of Ravana’s army courting Sarama at the top of his voice as he is used to shouting out orders to his men, bear the typical signature of Manoj Mitra; and that gives the play its characteristic flavour.  

Excellent performances by Mayuri Ghosh as Mandodori, Dipak Das as Ravana, Aditi Ghosh’s Hanumati, Subrata Choudhury’s Achari Baba, Dipak Thakurta’s army chief as well as the performances of Priyojit Bandopadhyay as Bivisana, Krishna Dutta as Bajrajwala, Arpita Sen as Sarama, Samar Das as Adhikari and Biswanath Dutta as the Thief  gave the production a great support. Manoj Mitra himself in the role of Kalnemi was in his usual self. Dress and music played important roles. The songs written by Manoj Mitra and put to tune by Soumitra Roy were well executed.

It was an enjoying evening with some thoughts to bring back home.