EUTHANASIA and Two Recent Bengali Stage Productions

EUTHANASIA and Two Recent Bengali Stage Productions

 [Euthanasia is being discussed throughout the world on its moral, legal and social implications.  Euthanasia conducted with the consent of the patient is termed voluntary euthanasia. Active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. This particular practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve one from unbearable pain has not got legal sanctions in our country in spite of the long struggle initiated long back by Minoo Masani. This system has its mentions in the old scriptures especially in Mahabharat but as the social norms, religious beliefs and the legal implications do not see eye to eye, we have found a partial sanction granted by Supreme Court in March last year in the case of Aruna Shanbag where passive euthanasia had been allowed. Passive voluntary euthanasia is legal throughout the U.S. In some places like in Switzerland and the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Montana the patient brings about his or her own death with the assistance of a physician and the term assisted suicide is used. Non-voluntary euthanasia is illegal in all countries.]

Interestingly, two recent Bengali productions have dealt with the theme of euthanasia that has not been handled on the Bengali stage till date though has been a familiar subject for long in literature and also in cinema.

Much has been said, written and argued but different countries have their own set of views regarding this intentional ending of a life in order to relieve someone suffering from pain and afflictions and have different laws. And as theatre is a mirror of the happenings, apprehensions, ecstasies and expectations of life and epitomises the optimistic approach to living a meaningful life, it is quite natural that such a subject be explored by the people of the theatre. It was quite interesting to find two groups almost at the same time produced two plays which had this subject at the core. Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La presented Mrityuheena sometimes in the early part of February while Natakwala presented Maranre Ichhamtityu Ebong.... in mid February.

Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La’s production, Mrityuheena, is a stage presentation of the group’s mentor Chandan Sen’s play of the same name. Sen is surely the first Bengali playwright to focus on the theme of mercy death. He very forcefully argues the case of an aged elocutionist who would like to gift his terminally ill beloved wife who has lost her voice, a peaceful death. He has brought in an intriguing sub-plot that fits well with the theme of the play. But the plea of a person to relieve someone whom he loves his heart out and who is painfully in the death bed with no hopes of recovery, by giving her a peaceful death distresses the viewer at the end of the day with the question of how far we are ready to accept such pleas. The human values and the social framing particularly in our Indian context make such decisions difficult.

This problem has further been dealt with in the Natakwala presentation of Maranre Ichhamtityu Ebong.... , a play written and directed by Shyamal Kumar Chakraborty. In this production the story centres on a retired justice who has no one to fall back upon and has been suffering from a painful incurable ailment and has been contemplating death with dignity. At this point of time his childhood friend and now a widow comes to him for help in the treatment of her son who had gone into a comatose state.  The subplot gives a different interpretation of the theme and poised the viewer with some hard-hitting questions. The play is so gripping that the production scores a high marks and is set to get a standing applause of the house.   

The fact that the Bengali theatre scene is throbbing with life is once again proved by these two productions which do not shy away to focus on such issues that are disturbing for the viewers yet are significant.     

Swapnasandhani’s NOTEER PUJA

Swapnasandhani’s NOTEER PUJA

Swapnasandhani has for the last nineteen years been trying to mould out a place for itself in the Bengali theatre world not only as a well tuned performing group but also to prove a purpose. Not that all its projects get the same success but, none the less, they believe in staging dramas with social relevance. From choosing dramas to staging them they spell out very discreetly their socio-political standing and in doing so they do not show any inattention to the art form that is theatre. Their latest production happens to be based on a Tagore’s drama, NOTEER PUJA which Tagore wrote way back in 1926, the theme of which he had dealt with in a poem Pujarini which he wrote in 1896.

But Swapnasandhani felt that it would not be enough to depict the caste conflict in the name of religion that Tagore had depicted in the play. What they did was to include a socio-political issue that has been tormenting the thinking Indian for the last decade though not much publicized. The issue they have amalgamated with Tagore’s is that of the civil rights activist from Manipur, Irom Chanu Sharmila who has been on hunger strike since November 2000 to demand repealing of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) from the State. The similarities of purpose of Sreemati and of Sharmila placed two and a half thousand years apart might seem very far off to a casual viewer but the socio-political parallels have deep roots in the similar social background.

Ujjwal Chattopadhyay who has done the script has very smartly introduced the Tagore poem while adapting the Tagore play for the production. The bringing in of King Ajatsatru to Sreemati has very well built up a crescendo that goes very well with the intentions of the production. Ratnabali’s cunningness, Malati’s innocence and Lokeswari’s agony have very well been brought out. But the character of the Brahmin extremist Madhavacharya seems absolutely out of place as the religious leaders never take the centre stage in fuming hatred and instead they employ the political big wigs to do the filthy things. In the original Tagore it was Devdutt, a royal consort, who was made to do the black deeds but Tagore never brought this character on to the stage. Then it was absolutely needless to depict rape and murder of Utpalparna as the mention of the incident would have brought about the same reactions in the viewers. But the one instance that goes against the tide of the production is the stripping off of the garb of the danseuse to reveal the ascetic’s attire of the Buddhist sect in the climactic scene. This has been done beyond the view of the viewers and so the impact that is supposed to be created gets lost.     

Magadh, the setting of the plot has been brought about on the stage with all its grandiosity and this is one point that the production can boast of. Kaushik Sen, the director, has once again proved his competence in improvising situations that extends beyond the written words of the scripts. His use of jewellery and the excellently executed different masks for the different characters would be remembered for a long time by the viewers. The sets designed by Sanchayan Ghosh using the reclining Buddha figure and the famished Gandhar figure without the head well illustrate the creative thinking that has enriched the production. But the bamboo and linen work for the upstage failed to get the visual support and instead played obstacle for the characters to enter the acting zone from the back. Ashok Pramanik’s lights helped in creating the right ambience. Reshmi Sen’s costume and Soma Gupta’s jewellery are two very strong points as is Chandra Mukherjee’s music support. The choreography by Sudarshan Chakravarty had much to be desired particularly in Sreemati’s rendition in the climactic moment of the play.

Titas Bhowmik’s Ratnabali was excellently done with the correctness in expressions and modulations of voice. Siddhartha Banerjee’s Ajatasatru though a short portrayal was well done. Kanchan Mullick’s Madhabacharya was overdone and almost infringed into the jatra acting form. Ditipriya Sarkar’s Lokeswari, Chandra Mukherjee’s  Utpalparna, Debarati Sikdar’s Malati, and Shrabasti Banerjee’s Shukla were organised well and each contributed their shares in the success of the production. Sreemati demanded a lot from Arpita Chatterjee which she could not deliver primarily because Sreemati has a set of shades in her character which ranged primarily from that of a dancer to that of a liberator. Moreover, the present drama gives this character a hue of a positive activist in the role of Sharmila. So it is not an easy job to handle. Arpita had certainly tried to render her best but the spirit of the character at the end did not find articulation in her performance.

At the end, Swapnasandhani is once again applauded for giving us yet another thought-provoking production.               

REVIEW OF 2011: A VERY ACTIVE YEAR OF PROMISES

REVIEW OF 2011: A VERY ACTIVE YEAR OF PROMISES

The Bengali theatre scene in the year just ended was very colourful as it saw presentations of veritable works of different groups many of which showed promises for a bright future of good theatre viewing. I for myself could see as many as thirty-six productions that ranged from rural to foreign ones. Festivals have been arranged by many groups apart from the State sponsored one by the Paschimbanga Natya Akademi that helped the Calcutta viewers to have a taste of the works that are being persuaded in places quite remote to the cultural capital as well as in other states. It is quite heartening to note that serious Bengali theatre is being cultured in other states that have a very predominantly non-Bengali way of life.  

The year started with two excellent productions that were enough to indicate a rich fare to follow in the year to come. KANYADAN by Ballygunge Swapnasuchana and JOGAJOG by Paschimbanga Natya Akademi would certainly go down in the annals of Bengali theatre for their brilliance in production. After a pretty long time the Calcutta viewers had the opportunity of seeing a Vijay Tendulkar play and Bijoy Mukherjee with his Ballygunge Swapnasuchana deserves praise. The play KANYADAN written by Tendulkar in 1983 is one of his more celebrated ones and requires a good and strong acting prowess for the portrayal of the four main characters. His works had touches of melodrama that would infringe into over-doing of the roles if the actors are not kept guarded by the director. Bratya Basu’s finely tuned editing together with his very well executed directorial work has made the production worth its name. Meghnad Bhattacharya, Swatilekha Sengupta, Sohini Sengupta and Bratya himself did brilliantly in the four roles, and I would even place the production way above the one by Padatik Reperatory with Shyamanand and Chetna Jalans in the cast, that I had viewed in 1987.

The other production that ushered in a very promising year was Paschimbanga Natya Akademi’s Tagore play, JOGAJOG. The presentation excelled in almost all the departments of the production, the foremost of which that needs special mention is, no doubt, the director’s. This particular piece of Tagore has not been handled by very many theatre groups as this is one of the writings of Tagore that bears the hallmark of Tagore’s stringency of words through which he could convey the many intrigues of the human mind. So it requires a deep study of Tagore in order to portray the characters he had penned with utmost care in these plays and novels. It would not be wrong to say that Ashok Mukhopadhyay had handled the play with such ability that one would be reminded of Bohurupi productions of Shombhu Mitra. His directorial work merits a serious observation for students of theatre. Keeping truthful to the original Tagore dialogues requires great sense of acting for the actors to depict the characters and for the director to plan each scene so the visual quality of the writing is kept intact. One of the most complicated characters created by Tagore is that of Madhusudan which has a very big chance to become a typical villain if not dealt with judiciously and it has been aptly rendered by Debesh Roychoudhury in this production. Apart from others special mention should be made of Jhulan Bhattacharya as Motir Maa and, of course, of Sohini Sarkar as Kumu. Both of them have come to stay and indications of a brilliant prospect are undoubtedly spelt out. 

A production that would be mentioned every time Tagore would be referred to in the theatre world is that of Kasba Arghya’s JOURNEY TO DAKGHAR RABINDRANTH THAKUR presented in the second half of the year.  This production would certainly stand out as a milestone in this genre.  Based on the drama Dakghar itself it is an attempt to present a play about a drama. The spiritual enlightenment that one observes in the post-Geetanjali period is theatrically manifested in the play, Dakghar, and this thought process has also contributed to his diverse creations since then. This is the thematic essence of the play by Arghya. The play narrates from the different writings of Tagore about the mindset that made him write the play. It tells about the preparations that were made for the play’s first few shows that Tagore had arranged himself and also informs the viewers about the observations of those who were fortunate to witness the stagings. Manish also brings out the thematic parallels in other Tagore works. And lastly he narrates the episode that happened in the Warsaw ghetto where Dr Janusz Korczak presented the play in Polish with the children of his orphanage. (See my blog Tagore’s Dakghar: The Play in the Ghetto, dated 27 October 2011) Thus this play by Manish Mitra has a great academic value that deeply scrutinizes the play itself. It is a great job done very efficiently by the whole cast under the very able direction of Manish.  This group has proved many a time that they mean serious business. They had also presented Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s epic MEGHNAD BADH KABYA in five acts keeping the original textual form almost intact with music and different Indian dance forms. The production speaks volumes of the diligence of each member of the group and the directorial job of Manish Mitra.   

Apart from these three productions another outstanding production deserves accolades and that is PINKI BULI by Sayak. Meghnad Bhattacharya has done wonders in this production where he transcends the viewers to a world of pure bliss and joy. A play that has the ability to impart a sense of fulfilment to those who have come to witness a performance on the stage needs unbridled praise as such experiences are rare.  Swatilekha Sengupta’s music score has ably helped in this venture. Bhaswati Chakraborty and Rimi Saha in the two roles of teenage girls have brought with them a great promise for a bright future.  Meghnad himself plays in a surreal role with an amazing make-up by Panchanan Manna. Another production that attracted the viewers’ admiration was BISMILLA presented by Green Room Theatre, a group from New Delhi. The group can very well boast of a very rich collection of actors who are deft in both delivering of dialogues as well as in physical acting. Shinjini Banerjee’s role of the protagonist had much load to carry which she did marvellously. Many of the players showed their acumen in songs and dances, and Debu Bhattacharya’s music certainly played an important role in the production. Anjan Kanjilal’s directorial work proved his mastery over the subject. Viewers in Calcutta would certainly love to be a witness to the promise this group from New Delhi has posed for the future.

            Talking of groups from other states one is reminded of a number of such groups that had come with their fares in the 28^th National Theatre Festival of Nandikar held in December. I saw two such productions. One of them was a production, ADAL BADAL, of Delhi’s NSD TIE. Co. This Theatre in Education programme of the National School of Drama is doing invaluable service in grooming young theatre workers. K.G. Krishnamurty on behalf of the company presented one of Swedish author Göran Tunström’s fairy-tales that dealt with the simple theme of a mother’s love and care. The other production that I feel fortunate enough to see was STREER PATRA PRESENTED by Seema Biswas from Mumbai. It is an adaptation for the stage in Hindi of one of Tagore’s unique short stories in a letter format written by the protagonist Mrinal after having abandoning her marital life in protest against the exploitations and atrocities meted out to the women folks in a Bengali upper-middle class family. With a very innovative stage setting Seema does the play alone bringing out the different characters of the story individually and thereby putting into motion the story of Mrinal’s life. It is, perhaps, one of the best solo-acting I have seen. Enad, a group from Bangaluru, came down to Calcutta to present their latest play, SIMANTINI, based on Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife in a festival organised by Sayak. Bengali adaptation done by Meghnad Bhattacharya the play has been directed by his son, Sayandeb.

Then there were a couple of foreign productions that attended Nandikar’s NTF. This is, perhaps, for the first time that the Calcutta viewers witnessed a work from Israel. Mica Dvir presented FIN-LAND, a play in English created and performed by her and another actor, and is about the experience of a person recollecting the past and in the process trying to control time as well as space. Though it had no indications of the country of its origin, it did indicate the present trend in the thinking process of the theatre world of that country. The other foreign production was that of Bangladesh. Aaranyak of Dhaka presented RARAANG, an excellently presented drama depicting an uprising by a Santhal sect of the northern region of Bangladesh. Written and directed by Mamunur Rashid it is a vast production having songs and choreography playing vital roles. Every actor of the huge cast is well versed with his or her role. No doubt this production has been in the top echelon of the theatre scene in that country for quite a few years. Another group from Bangladesh, Theatre Art Unit from Dhaka had come down to present AMINA SUNDARI, in a festival organised by Nandipat dedicated to women theatre directors. Based on one of the innumerable folklores of about three hundred years old the play has been designed basically in a stylised choreographed format. Rokeya Rafique Baby has been imaginative in the use of the songs and in the planning of costumes. It had been a revealing experience for the Calcutta viewers. Speaking of the folk form, BILASIBALA, of Gobordanga Naksha comes to the mind. Ashis Das used the almost extinct form of Astak, a chorus form performed by eight artistes in the play giving it a typical rustic ambience. It is a very well tuned production, no doubt.

As this year happened to be the closing year of the 150^th birth anniversary celebrations of Tagore there were a number of Tagore based productions of which JOGAJOG of Paschimbanga Natya Akademi has been mentioned earlier. Another of Tagore’s novels, GORA, has been staged not very successfully by Abhas under the direction of Sekhar Samaddar and with Debsankar Halder overdoing in the title role. Sekhar also dramatised and directed Kalapi Natyamancha’s production of NASTANEER, one of Tagore’s short stories that seemed an unsuccessful stage adaptation of Ray’s Charulata. Shohan presented MANBHANJAN, another of Tagore’s short stories dramatised by Ujwal Chattopadhyay and ably directed by Anish Ghosh. Kristi Sansad presented ROBITHAKUR O PUSHPAMALA, an adaptation by Sangramjit Sengupta, who also directs the play, of yet another Tagore short story, Muktir Upaye. Another work deserves mention and it is Rangakarmee’s CHANDALIKA. This is the first time Usha Ganguli took up Tagore in thirty five years that her group has been doing serious plays in Hindi. A translation by Usha of the dramatization of the dance-drama by Debashis Mazumdar has songs and dances as an important component of the production. Interestingly, Tagore songs other than those of the original dance-drama have been used giving the play its own identification.

            One of the more significant productions of last year was Swapnasandhani’s SEI SUMOULI written by Indrashis Lahiri. With a strongly political content this play has appealed to the viewers for its very well crafted stage application done by Kaushik Sen.  The political transition in the state is depicted through a story that is itself a commentary of the state of affairs in the state. Rajatava Dutta and Debdoot Ghosh play out the main two characters but the former deserves a little more of the accolades as he has to carry much more work-load. All the other characters however small were very well executed. Ashok Pramanik’s lights helped Sanchayan Ghosh’s stage design which did help the play to develop on the stage. Of the plays with typical political contents two productions come to the mind. Ha Ja Ba Ra La of dramatist Chandan Sen presented one of his latest works, SAHID SIKHAR. The play focussed on grabbing of land by the government associated with atrocities in Odisha for the multinational Posco. It was strange that the play instead of talking about the similar affairs in West Bengal preferred to move on to the neighbouring state. But what was significant was that the play dealt a heavy blow on the party who had put all its protests and revolutionary attitudes to the back seat and has taken up the garb of the ruling class. Total Theatre’s BISWASGHATAK is a play by Santanu Bandopadhyay which in trying to portray a very independent view of the political change of guard in the state commits to being a bit too overzealous and creates unnecessary controversies by slandering against few people who are part of the present set-up for reasons not much of significance. It is a production better to forget.

Two other significant jobs well done last year were Nat-Ranga’s BEOKUF EK CHAND and Ensemble’s LAAL BAKSHO.   Sohan Bandopadhyay and his Nat-Ranga has been in their previous productions have been projecting hard realities that the society prefers to avoid discussing for their hard-hitting truths. Earlier this year they had presented another play, AAMI WEDS AAMI, which though is an adaptation of Charlie Fish’s The Man Who Married Himself, is a story of a person who failing to find an ideal match weds himself but finds it difficult to reconcile when his urge to procreate comes and this has, in fact, been reported quite a number of times in the media. Nat-Ranga’s BEOKUF EK CHAND does not go for hard-hitting realities and instead takes the viewers on a fantasy based on a very simple love story. The production can boast of a very well executed presentation all complete with music and imaginative stage settings and lights.  Kudos is due to the playwright director Sohan Bandopadhyay. Sohag Sen’s Ensemble presented LAAL BAKSHO which is a collection of five playlets each featuring a red box or a packet or a bag around which terror develops amongst simple folks. This play portrays the very fragile fabric of the society as a result of terrorism that has spread its ugly head all around.   

           Kathakriti’s MUKHAR RATRI brought Ashapurna Devi on the Bengali stage after a long time as Bratyajan brought the two literatures Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay and Saradindu Bandopahyay in the two plays, CANVASER and BYOMKESH, respectively. But Bratyajan failed to keep up to the standard it had created for it with Ruddhasangeet though Poulomi Bose’s acting in BYOMKESH attracted the attention of the viewers. In this connection mention should be made of Ohik who presented this year’s festival with literature as the theme. They themselves presented TEEN NUMBER BENCH on the story with the same name by Sirsendu Mukhopadhyay and TEEN EKKE TEEN, a collection of three short stories by Banaphool, Shibram and Premchand. Theatre Workshop under the direction of Kamal Manna presented another of Sirsendu Mukhopadhyay’s stories, GOENDA POABARO, a children’s story.

Sanstab and Natyaranga presented two plays on very important social problems. While the former presented, MONOSCHOKHHU, a play by Ujjwal Chattopadhyay and directed by Dwijen Bandopadhyay dealt with the mental stress an urbanite faces due to the different social tensions. The production would be remembered for an exquisite characterisation of a psychologically stressed psychoanalyst by the director himself. In Natyaranga’s SWAPNO PARAS the playwright Snehashis Bhattacharya deals with the solitude that the urban man finds himself in. Murari Roychoudhury’s music is a department very well handled.

On the whole it was quite a good show last year and so it is natural that it leads one to believe certainly in the bright future Bengali theatre promises to cater in the year 2012.    

PINKI BULI & AAMI WEDS AAMI : Two Notable Bengali Productions

PINKI BULI & AAMI WEDS AAMI : Two Notable Bengali Productions

In the post-Puja scene on Kolkata stage two worthwhile productions have engaged the viewers of all sorts starting from the casual to the serious. These productions – PINKI BULI by Sayak and AAMI WEDS AAMI by Nat-ranga stand out of the others because of two very important reasons. The viewers are usually fed with contents that either have strong political message conveyed very crudely or are high browed intellectual stuff that do not find many takers in the audience. Very few shows are staged that tell the audience a simple story in a very fascinating way and in the process present a social problem that influences a large section of the society. These two productions have done exactly that. The second reason for them to be remembered for long is their attractive presentations. Not much of extravaganza was created on the stage but an endearing spectacle was presented in the productions. While the Sayak production did have a stage set-up to supplement the story line depicted, the stage for the Nat-ranga production was absolutely bare of any settings. 

Adapted by Indrashis Lahiri from a story by Amar Mitra PINKI BULI is a simple story of two girls coming from two different worlds. While Pinki is a convent going snobbish teenager of an upper class family Buli is a simple village girl full of exuberance and of the same age who is employed by Pinki’s family to look after her little brother. Nothing seems to click between them as the cultural as well as the mental gaps seem almost impossible to be filled. Buli is simply awe-struck at the life she encounters in the upper class environs that enthuse her to emulate Pinki. But in spite of the differences both have dreams of a fantastic world that are of course different. And in a bid to achieve that blissful world of their individual dreams they become friends. At this point of time there comes a grand old man who shows them the ways to achieve the bliss that would open up the paths to their dreams through the mysteries of the universe, the birth of life and the harmony in Nature that is maintained for the life and its dreams to sustain. What fascinated the viewers was the way Meghnad Bhattacharya created the story to happen on the stage. I have commented in some other place that Meghnad had done magic! Yes, indeed it was a thrill to watch him unfold the inner soul of the drama with all its splendour that has deep roots in the essence of Tagore’s philosophy without even once referring to Tagore or in any way remotely quoting the Poet. He has been immensely helped by Swatilekha Sengupta who has done the background scoring which incidentally is one of the finest examples of this department of a production in the recent times. The presence of Tagore was felt by the viewers in the subtle use of Tagore tunes and even in moments of silence.

The two adolescent girls around whom the drama builds up naturally had to bear a humongous work load and with an unflinching guidance of the director both excelled in their efforts. Rimi Saha as Pinki was made to up-scale her dialogue deliveries so as to accentuate the naive character of Buli. This was indeed a remarkable directorial job that Meghnad Bhattacharya had employed like he had in many other instances. Rimi has efficiently portrayed the change of attitude in the character of Pinki. Bhaswati Chakraborty has but stumped the viewers with awe as the work she has done would pose a challenge even to a senior actor. With pieces of songs and dances chipped in she was excellent in the portrayal that would be discussed for a long time to come. Apart from her Dhurjoti De, Runa Mukherjee, Uttam De and others have done their bits as needed. Meghnad acted in the role of the grand old man. In an earlier production he had done such a surrealist character also and certainly needs no comments. Here, a few words of praise are worth due for Panchanan Manna for the make-up job this man has done for the character of the grand old man. This was one rare instance where the stage lights were taken into consideration while planning the make-up art. But the only department that did not do justice to the production was the stage decor by Shoumik-Piyali. Both structurally as well as visually the stage failed to create any impact.  Accolades are but due to Meghnad Bhattacharya for the sheer joy that the viewers enjoyed during the little over two hour show time.      

A very different production was staged by Nat-ranga entitled AAMI WEDS AAMI which stands out both for the content as well as structure. Sohan Bandopadhyay has chosen on a peculiar subject like he had done in his earlier work. He chooses on subjects that are not normally accepted in the so-called elite societies as they are taboo or socially proscribed. He wrote an original play of this name in 2007 based on a story by Charlie Fish entitled ‘The Man Who Married Himself’ which the latter wrote in 2000. Incidentally, two similar occurrences were reported in the press in 2010. In his write-up Sohan mentions that last May in New York Kevin Nadal married himself and this was reported in The Guardian by Sharon Kram who also reports of a similar marriage in 2009 of Jennifer Hosse in Holland. Another marriage was reported from Taipei where Chen Wei-yih married the love of her life – herself. So Sohan’s play of 2007 can be termed futuristic in one sense.

This is a story of a man who marries himself as he thinks that he himself is the best judge of oneself and can never be ditched or betrayed. He is helped in this endeavour by the priest of his church. This ‘conjugal’ life goes on happily for quite a while till the urge to procreate reaches its natural outfall. This story is so remotely related to our normal lives that we find it as a comedy and would not believe in the predicament of the protagonist. But Sohan has delved into the problem deeply and that is evidenced in his work. Such serious stage dissertations of themes like this by young directors speak of a bright future for the Bengali stage.

 Sohan has acted brilliantly in the role of the protagonist. As he had to perform as both the wife and the husband he had a lot of load to carry and he has been undoubtedly successful. His two intonations, his two different pitches of delivery, his two different mannerisms are a very well studied portrayal of two different characters. The other characters, too, were equally well done except the one done by Poulomi Bose who seemed a bit unprepared. Nilabha Chatterjee deserves individual mention as he showed restrain in his portrayal of a role that could easily turn into an overdone comic character. The presentation of the main story was done by Sohan as a sub-play and that brought in a novel touch in the production. Apart from a few blemishes that can be corrected this production can claim that the future of the Bengali stage in the hands of the young generation seem secure. 

Tagore's Dakghar : The Play in the Ghetto

There are innumerable instances of Rabindranath Tagore influencing the lives and thoughts of people all around the world with his writings, songs and paintings. On his 150^th birth anniversary it would not be out of place to recollect how one of his most powerful dramas, Dakghar, did wonders to a group of children who were fated to be gassed by the Nazis in Poland by identifying their world with that of Amal. Tagore wrote this drama in 1912 which falls in the beginning of a period which is known as the post-Geetanjali period. During this period of his life one finds spiritualism gradually taking the centre of the stage. Some have classified the play as allegorical while others call it symbolic, but the theme of the play written in a language which he himself called lyrical prose, is the celebration of life and the acceptance of death as a call from beyond. The abstraction is so intense yet so placid that the reader or the viewer experiences the emotive power that the playwright had brought in the play. It would be interesting to go through a letter Tagore wrote to Monilal Gangopadhyay about the urge of emotions he felt that made him write Dakghar.  He writes that he felt that it was time for him to go and before that he would have to travel round the world to know the feelings of happiness and joy and all the exuberance of living that the people have all around. He said that one night when he was all engrossed in the work of his school, he felt that something was coming his way, may be death, and he had to go. And he speaks of expressing this sense of going ....this death...in his Dakghar. But he says he felt no sorrow or no pangs of bereavement and instead there was a peculiar joy that one feels at the time of separation or leave-taking.  These words of Tagore very well sum up the philosophy behind his creation of Dakghar.  The play was translated into English by W.B. Yeats as The Post Office, and this brought the play to the world. The translated version was staged in London the next year by an Irish group. It is interesting to note that Juan Ramón Jiménez translated the play into Spanish. The French translation was done by André Gide and was read on the radio the night before Paris fell to the Nazis.

A Polish doctor of Jewish origin, Henryk Goldszmit (1878 - 1942) who was better known as Janusz Korczak, his pen name as a children's author did wonders with this play of Tagore. The following is a brief account of the doctor’s work.

In 1911–1912 Korczak built Dom Sierot, an orphanage of his own design for Jewish children in Warsaw. When the Nazis created the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940, his orphanage was forced to move to the ghetto. Korczak moved in with them. It was the typical German Ghetto that treated the Jews as creatures fit for the gutters. There were regulations enforced that condemned the inmates to lives of indignity and humiliation.  Terrorizing the residents was the only authoritative governance they could employ. The basic amenities and supplies were dearer and the inhabitants depended on the smugglers to bring them supplies especially bread from across the walls. Things deteriorated fast and in the month of July in 1942 the administration in the name of eliminating smugglers slaughtered people who helped the ghetto inhabitants to get their life sustaining supplies from across the walls. The ambience that prevailed in the ghetto was one of gloominess and despair. This had also percolated into the orphanage that teemed with almost 200 bubbling Jewish kids of all ages.

The doctor was tormented and thought out ways of providing strength of mind to the children so that they can bear any unpleasant eventuality that would come their way. He knew that the children could also confront Death that may come in any guise. He believed that if the kids could be provided with something they could get comfort from they would be ready for any contingency. He planned to present them a metaphysical world which would help them transcend their present state of things. He wrote a fantasy, Strange Happenings, which he dedicated to one of the youngest boys in the orphanage, Szymonek Jakubowicz. Here, he tells the story of an astronomer, Professor Zi, who lives on a planet called Ro. The astronomer could develop moral power with which he could bring joy and tranquility everywhere in the universe except on this Earth where people though living together were fighting amongst themselves. He knew that it would not be judicious to coerce them and force them to change their ways and so he let them develop on their own. He believed that the young Earth would learn when time comes.

The doctor devised other methods, too, to involve everyone around to uplift their spirits. He asked the children to write diaries that would act as a catharsis for their inner feelings and also to work for each other. He knew that these were not enough and was in search for more ideas. He knew he needed superhuman power to save the children and ultimately he found the solution in the play, The Post Office, by Rabindranath Tagore. The story of the play was about a dying orphan, Amal, who enriches the lives of those who comes in contact with him. Korczak found the content so close to what he had thought about all these days. Yeats in his preface to the play had mentioned about the deliverance sought and won by Amal. This was exactly what Korczak wanted to deliver.

Esterka Winogron, who used to assist Korczak on his medical rounds of the orphanage, volunteered to direct the play. Auditions were held and the lead part of Amal was given to Abrasha, a popular boy who played the violin. Three weeks of rehearsals were scheduled, and the performance date set for Saturday, July 18.

The large room on the first floor of the orphanage was filled with friends and colleagues intrigued by the invitations written in Korczak's unique style:

We are not in the habit of promising anything we cannot deliver. We believe that an hour's performance of an enchanting tale by one who is both a philosopher and a poet will provide an experience - of the highest order of sensibility.

Appended to the invitation, with which admission was free, were a few words by Korczak's friend, the young poet Wladyslaw Szlengel, who would gain posthumous fame after his death in the Ghetto Uprising:

It transcends the test - being a mirror of the soul.
It transcends emotion - being an experience.
It transcends mere acting - being the work of children.

The night before the play there was an incidence of mass food poisoning that spread through the house. Korczak tended to the children throughout and luckily the children pulled themselves together in time for the performance at 4:30 the next afternoon.

The audience was captivated and could discover allegories and to identify to the world around. It was clear from the hushed silence at the end of the play that Korczak had succeeded in providing the adults as well as the children with a sense of liberation from their present lives and had lifted them at least momentarily, to some realm not only beyond the walls of the ghetto but beyond life itself. The children could identify Amal as their ownself and saw the King who did not appear in the play but remained present all through as the Angel of Bliss.

When asked why he chose that play, Korczak is reported to have said that he wanted to help the children accept death. In his diary he makes only a short notation about the afternoon:

The children had seemed so natural in their parts that he wondered what would happen if they were to continue in their roles the next day: If Jerzyk were to imagine he really was a fakir, Chaimek a real doctor, and Adek the lord mayor?

On  July 18, Saturday, The Post Office was performed in Korczak's orphanage and on  August 5 (some say August 6), 1942, German soldiers came to collect the 192 (there is some debate about the actual number and it may have been 196) orphans and about one dozen staff members to take them to Treblinka extermination camp. Korczak had been offered sanctuary on the “Aryan side” of Warsaw but he refused to leave the children saying that he could not abandon his children. Korczak with most of his children were exterminated in a gas chamber upon their arrival at Treblinka.

STAGE ADAPTATIONS OF TAGORE SHORT STORIES......a glimpse

STAGE ADAPTATIONS OF TAGORE SHORT STORIES......a glimpse

Though the theatre goers of Bengal have seen quite a few of Tagore’s short stories been adapted for stage productions in all these years, not many have been adapted on the 150^th year of the bard’s birth celebration.  Only a very few – 5 or 6 at the most – of the 100 short stories almost, that Tagore had written have been taken up by the theatre groups for stage presentations this year. There have been quite a few commendable productions earlier where a few others of the stories were adapted but the number had never been more than a dozen or so. However, in these earlier productions there was not much experimentation done and were almost faithful dramatisations of the stories. The presentations were not always of great standards but had the ardour of keeping to the original as far as possible.

 Lately, there has been a trend that tries to break away from the original structure of the story and, may be in the process, give the content of the story a different bend. Here, someone may ask, how devoted or loyal are they towards Tagore. Witnessing such productions one is sad to note that allegiance towards the writer in minimum. On the other hand, the productions which try to keep to the original as far as practicable with some minor modifications that are needed for stage are so aptly adapted that the viewers get the Tagore flavour. But this is, no doubt, a tough job and due to this reason, perhaps, not many Tagore short stories are found to be worked unaltered for stage presentations, if one compares it with respect to the number of novels that have been adapted. A significant characteristic of Tagore short stories is the paucity of words to convey the writer’s imaginations. The reader, on the other hand, can very well develop an imagery that is impossible to match any transcreation on stage. Apart from productions where the play has kept faithful to the story, there are productions where the basic structure of the story has been developed into a more elaborate drama. Then there are productions that drift into a different story with major alterations even to the perspective that acted as a background drop for the story. All these attempts are not always successful and, in some, have resulted in real disasters.

We would pick up five productions for our discussion which illustrate the different adaptations seen on the Calcutta stage this last year. First in line would be Sohan’s Manbhanjan, an adaptation of the story with the same name. 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. The director Anish Ghosh, with his imaginative improvisation and a commendable application of stage sense, has worked hard to maintain an honesty in spite of the limitations that is inherent in the group as in any other such groups. Nastaneer by Kalapi Natyamancha is on the other hand stands in bare contrast as dramatist-director Sekhar Samaddar could not get out of the grips of a work by Satyajit Ray which, no doubt, had a sweeping effect on the cultural thought process of post-1964 generations. This has immensely upset the stage adaptation of the story, so much so that, one is made to doubt whether it is but a stage adaptation of the film, Charulata excepting the end where Sekhar keeps to the story ending. The depictions of Amal, Bhupati and Charu are all affected by the screen portrayal of the characters. References of Dakghar’s Amal or of Kadambari Debi seemed completely out of place and only showed dearth of thoughts in play-writing.

It was interesting to watch two groups working out two different plays adapted from the same story. Muktir Upaye, a satire written by Tagore some 120 years ago has been adapted as Mukti! Mukti! by Sayak and as Robi Thakur o Puspamala by Kristi Sansad. This only demonstrates how Tagore has influenced the Bengali stage as neither staged the play as Tagore himself had adapted but have ventured to stage their individual versions of adaptations. Chandan Sen’s dramaturgy in Sayak’s production is worth emulating for those who works on transforming stories into plays, for here is an example of how the printed words can be given a definite shape on the stage, and that too not trying to transgress the imagery created by the story writer. Chandan has strived to uphold the true Tagore essence in building up the play which is not a true stage-copy of the story but a play based on the story by Tagore. He has taken the liberty to add to the storyline but these modifications have not extended beyond a limit and so Tagore is omnipresent throughout. He has brought in present day references through a surrealist character he has introduced in the play. This character which he calls Rasik is a prototype of a character that is found in many of Tagore’s works but in different names and also as in the same name in two of his dramas. This archetypical character is always seen as the central character manifesting the philosophy of the writer. Meghnad Bhattacharya’s directorial acumen needs little to be proved and in this production he has excelled both as an actor in the role of Rasik as well as in conducting a neatly orchestrated team on and off the stage. In Robi Thakur o Puspamala by Kristi Sansad one finds another adaptation of the same story. Sangramjit Sengupta has taken resource materials from Tagore’s different writings, letters, etc., and has developed a play that attracts the viewer’s attention because of its presentation. Puspamala is a character through whom the playwright unfolds the story on the stage. But in a few instances the basic nuances of the satire is missing or has been changed and that has resulted in the production not achieving the desired benchmark that it had promised initially.

   Another production that warranted attention is Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La’s Abagunthita. The play written by Chandan Sen has been developed on the short story, Tyag. The focus of the story had been the caste system that has spoilt the very fabric of the society. It shows how the caste variance can ruin a relationship and bring in enmity amongst people. This picture has not changed much even in the present times but Chandan has brought in another burning problem that is prevalent in our country – that of honour killing. Thus, a different drama is staged with the shadow of the Tagore story looming in the background. In order to give more credence to the problem the characters of the story have been presented in a coarser form with a few more characters added. The play ends in a far different way than that of the story. The playwright has taken this liberty as he has written a new play altogether and did not dramatise the story.  

PLAYS ON TAGORE’S WORKS....a different interpretation

PLAYS ON TAGORE’S WORKS....a different interpretation

On the occasion of Tagore’s sesquicentennial year, plays on Tagore pieces ranging from his dramas to novels, novellas, short stories and even poems have been staged by different theatre groups.  Adaptations and diverse interpretive versions of the plays were staged that clearly indicates the deep influence Tagore works have cast on the present generation of young theatre-makers.  These works are not to be classed with the productions which tend to dismantle the original works and build a new one in its place yet not acknowledging the truth. However, the four works that I have picked for our discussion are based on three of Tagore’s plays and the fourth one has been worked out on a poem by him.

Prachyanat, a group from Dhaka, Bangladesh, presented Raja....ebong onyannyo in the 27^th National Drama Festival of Nandikar, as a tribute to Tagore. As the name suggested the Dhaka production did not proclaim that it was an original Tagore piece but was based on one of Tagore’s very difficult symbolic plays, Raja. This play along with other symbolic and allegorical plays was the fruit of Tagore’s spiritual enlightenment that was evident in his works in the Geetali-Geetimalya-Geetanjali era, and thereafter. He had written to C.F.Andrews in 1914, the year The King of the Dark Chamber, his translation of Raja, was published, that the prying inquisitorial mind would always fail to accept or acknowledge the simple ways of life. In the drama, too, this was what he had wanted the world to see. Azad Abul Kalam, the director, writing about the play he had composed says that “Humanity has become the major casualty in this era of extreme decadence. Every moment we are tempted not to believe ourselves, our senses. Lack of respect for other race, religion, rights, and rites has resulted in social transgression, cultural subversion, and economic and political aggression. The contextual relevance of ‘Raja’ in modern society has inspired and emboldened me to integrate novel dimensions to the proscenium concept of Tagorian performance. ”

And so one finds a different ambience even before the play starts. The door to the auditorium has a poster inviting immigration to USA and a number of men in military mufti with machine guns in hand loitering in and around the auditorium as well as on the stage. The play takes the viewers directly into the environment of uncertainties, mistrust, distrust and lust that has been the order of the present international scene, especially post-9/11. The director introduces all the Kanchi kings of the present world at the very beginning of the play. He finds a similarity in the new face of American terror with that of the attempts of the Kanchi kings to seize Queen Sudarsana with the help of the imposter Subarna. The play did have the prospects to be a strong commentary on the present world situation but in spite of a very lavish presentation failed to get the viewers’ praise because of a very poor performance.

While discussing Raja a reference could be made of another production that handled a modified version of the play, done by the playwright himself. This particular play, Raja, which Tagore wrote in 1910, was the second drama in the genre that he had started in 1908 with Sarodatsab. This genre had a unique lyrical structure that was miles apart from what the viewers or, for that matter, the readers had experienced till then. Attempts had been made to stage these dramas but had more or less remained a rarity, sort of. Tagore had himself tried a number of times to stage these plays but felt that they were not as successful as they deserved to be. Perhaps this thought led him to write an abridged form of Raja which he thought would be easy to stage. He named this concise version Arupratan. In 1935 he staged it in Calcutta and himself acted in the roles of Thakurda and Raja. Bohurupi, under Shombhu Mitra, in the 50s and 60s of the last century had presented plays of this genre and they still remain as milestones in the Bengali stage history. 

Saptak, a group from Santiniketan, staged this play as a tribute to Tagore on his 150^th year. One should remember that not many performances of Arupratan are recorded as a high degree of creativity is needed to stage this play as the structure or form of the drama is far too weak than the content or substance of the play. Then there are a couple of characters in the drama whose manifestations on the stage requires a tall order that can rarely be seen. So, it is natural that the deep theatrical sense of the director and a strong acting potential, aptitude and competence are missing in a group which is not proficiently tuned to perform with a professional feel.  Nevertheless, the director Amartya Mukherjee deserves praise for an enterprising attempt to stage this play.

Dakghar is supposed to be the best drama of Tagore according to some pundits. They say that in this drama Tagore has included elements that give the piece the credentials of a true drama. This play was written in 1912 in the post-Geetanjali period. He did not have any songs in this play which happens to be the only exception in his works of that period. He proved to his critics that he could transcend his readers or viewers to his world of subjective realism without the support of music as it was thought in those days.  Some have classed it as allegorical while others call it symbolic, but what attracts the ordinary viewer to this play is the deep message it gives, that of existence in this world and beyond. The celebration of life is the foundation of all of Tagore’s philosophy and in this play that message is communicated to the viewers in a language which he calls lyrical prose.  The abstraction is so intense yet so placid that the ordinary viewer experiences the emotive power that the playwright had brought in the play. It would be interesting to go through a letter Tagore wrote to Monilal Gangopadhyay about the urge of emotions he felt that made him write Dakghar.  He writes that he felt that it was time for him to go and before that he would have to travel round the world to know the feelings of happiness and joy and all the uchhas (no fitting English word comes to mind, exuberance might fit in) of living that the people have all around. He said that one night when he was all engrossed in the work of his school, he felt that something was coming his way, may be death, and he had to go. And he speaks of expressing this sense of going ....this death...in his Dakghar. But he says he felt no sorrow or no pangs of bereavement and instead there was a peculiar joy that one feels at the time of separation or leave-taking.  These words of Tagore very well sum up the philosophy behind his creation of Dakghar.    

In their production entitled Journey to Dakghar Rabindranath Thakur, Kasba Argya tries to bring on the stage the different aspects of the drama itself. It is not the enactment of the play that is central to the production. The thrust of the play by Manish Mitra is more on an academic discourse about the drama that Tagore wrote. He relates the different experiences of people like Abanindranath Tagore who took active part in the stage decorations in the various staging of the play by Tagore himself, together with the eye-witness account of persons who were fortunate to see these shows like Rani Chanda. Then he very skilfully brings in the fact of the Polish doctor, Henryk Goldszmit, better known as Janusz Korczak, who made the Jewish children of a Warsaw ghetto to stage the Polish translation of The Post Office done by him, a week before their extermination in order to embolden them to face Death as it comes. Side by side Manish presents the play itself in parts keeping to the spirit of the original drama though in a complete different form. This production certainly opens a new trend in the field of Tagore plays.

            Swapnasandhani, a serious theatre group of Calcutta, staged Birpurus  which was declared very categorically in their publicity material that it was a play inspired by a Tagore’s poem of the same name. So there was no intention to outwit the viewers. Here, Kaushik Sen brings in Tagore’s Khoka but a different one who fights terrorism in order to save the ordinary folks. Very unambiguously the play narrates the predicament of the ordinary people of Jungalmahal who are subjected to tortures both from the so-called ultra left revolutionaries and also from the joint action force. The play portrays Khoka of Tagore’s Birpurus as a symbol of resistance against all kinds of atrocities and violence, and the play ends on an optimistic note. Poems of Subhas Mukherjee, Nirendranath Chakraborty, Sankha Ghosh have been used fittingly and this enriches the production, no doubt. But what is important is that a play has taken birth from a poem of Tagore, and this is a new path worth pursuing by other groups.