BHARAT RANG MAHOTSAV
: A RETROSPECTIVE
Kavita Nagpal*
The National School
of Drama’s Theatre Festival, 4th Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) concluded
on a celebratory note with the internationally acclaimed theatre
guru, Ratan Thiyam’s dazzling presentation of Mahakavi Kalidasa’s
epic poem Ritusamharam. The poem, describing the
six seasons – Grishma, Varsha, Sharad,
Hemant, Shishir and Vasant- was a radiant
distillation of all the elements of dramatic art- dance, music,
gesture, movement, expression, scenic design, costume and visual
poetry.
In the open house
interaction with the audience following the show, Ratan confessed
that the piece was conceived as an escape from the daily dose
of violence, death, war and terror unleashed by the media. "Violence,
cannot be contained by violence. Anti-war themes haunt me. But
I feel I have been isolating myself from nature. In Mahakavi Kalidasa
I found a shoulder to lean on in my attempt to restart a dialogue
with nature." On being asked why he only staged plays in
his native language Manipuri, Ratan described the elaborate actor
training method he has evolved for his company based in Imphal.
The discipline includes a study of the Natyashastra, Aristotle’s
Poetics and all the traditional regional performing dances,
music, theatre and narrative forms of Manipur.
The Festival was inaugurated
by Pandit Ravi Shankar on March 16 and concluded on April 8. Every
little outer space was alive with theatre enthusiasts engaged
in avid debates. Spectators ran from show to show in an effort
to catch as many plays as they could of the feast of 126 dramas
in more than 20 languages laid out for them at eight venues in
and around NSD. The fever was akin to the frenzy at international
film festivals. But it was physically impossible to witness all
the selected pieces. Shows were too closely timed and some ran
longer than others, thus precluding the possibility of viewing
them.
Though Kamani and
the Shri Ram Centre Halls are a two- minute sprint from the NSD
campus, there were few takers for shows held there. A buff ascribed
this to the warm welcoming atmosphere in the NSD environs. If
international festivals like the French annual at Avignon and
the Edinburgh in Scotland are the models, then shows will have
to be staggered through the day, well into the night. In most
big festivals each venue has multiple staging, with shows opening
as early as ten or eleven in the morning with some closing around
dawn. Five countries- Korea, Bangladesh, Germany, Israel and Mauritius
– participated this year. International involvement is expected
to increase from next year as the festival becomes more structured.
The fixed dates for the Festival between March 16 to April 8 gave
groups in India and abroad ample time to arrange their tours and
create specific shows for the Festival.
The other interesting
aspect that coming BRMs might want to emulate is the separation
of the main Festival and allowing a fringe or an offstream to
emerge. The plays for the main Festival may be commissioned especially
for the event, thus ensuring quality shows by recognized playwrights
and well- known directors and actors. These plays could run from
three to seven days. Spectators would have an easier time arranging
their viewing programme. Decisions regarding the ‘Best’ are more
difficult to take in a multi-language situation like in India,
but possible since the Festival has decided to focus on the theatre
of one region at each BRM.This year’s attention was on theatre
from West Bengal and the North-East.
There were four productions
from Manipur including a stunning Bhoot Amusung (Devil
and the Mask) directed by L Dorendra, five from Assam with a stirring
Hamlet by Dulal Roy and nine plays from West Bengal. Nagaland,
though rich in dance has no theatre as such. It is to the credit
of young NSD graduate Rabijita Gogoi that she produced the visually
gorgeous Nidhali with young dancers as part of an NSD extension
programme. The Mizoram presentation Zanriah El Hmain by
Siddharth Chakraborty was also highly appreciated.
Viewing fatigue is
much greater at theatre festivals than at film festivals. This
is because of the immediacy of a live communication between two
sets of humans. It requires total concentration of the senses
on both sides of the arc lights. Since each performance of even
the same play is different – human beings cannot be programmed
to repeat emotions or dramatic interactions- one sometimes sees
a bad show of a play that was good the previous evening! This
is an eternal risk taken by a performer.Thus one can rave about
a play that is being dismissed by another as poor and dismiss
one that played to an appreciative audience elsewhere.
Ganapati, conceived and directed by Veenapani Chawla
of Adishakti, Pondicherry, presented at Bahumukh, one of NSD’s
most inspired performing spaces, was a vibrant, stimulating and
innovative dramatic presentation. A scholar and practitioner of
drama, classical dance, music and martial arts, Chawla has done
extensive work with the technique used by Koodiyattam performers.
Koodiyattam is a highly codified traditional theatre form in Kerala
and considered the only living vestige of Sanskrit theatre.
While celebrating
experience and expertise, the Festival also threw up some new
talent. Surendra Sharma’s Ila, a drama drawn from a chapter
in the Shreemad Bhagvat where Manu’s wife’s prayers for
a girl child are answered, tackled female foeticide with verve
and contemporary resonance. The learned Vashishta genetically
changes Ila into the male prince Sudyum at Manu’s behest. Sudyum,
played with exceptional energy and eclat by Alka Ameen, marries,
spawns children, becomes king, but cannot shed her ‘femininity’.
It is magically restored to her in an enchanted wood where Ila/Sudyum
falls in love and experiences motherhood. But duty beckons and
Vashishtha is forced to return Ila to manhood to face the rigours
of governing a rotting and corrupt kingdom.Shailaja J, Daulat
Vaid and R.Nalini are amongst the newcomers to watch out for.
*Media
Critic
