A TRANSLATION OF KEYA CHAKRABARTI'S The Theatre of Today: Some Young Faces

(First Draft)

Translator’s Introduction

Keya Chakrabarti was a professor of English Literature at Scottish Church College, Kolkata through the late 1960s and was simultaneously sharpening a career in semi-professional group theatre with Nandikar. As a professor trying to teach a designated syllabus on time, she was a slightly irritated witness of the tumultuous student politics of the time, and at the same time her own work in the theatre was often deeply political. She was also publishing her writings on theatre in many journals and newspapers of the time; theatre reviews, questions of theatre aesthetics and theatre histories were some of her subjects of choice.

In this particular piece Keya writes about two amateur theatre groups—Silhouette and Shilpi Jajabar—both of which have come out of the contemporary moment of the 1970s college campus, still very much enamored by the magic moment of Naxalbari. Keya interviews the directors of these groups, much of which she transcribes into her essay and tries to argue for the value of student cultural practice in the face of political depravity. The two groups have very different takes on the efficacy of their kind of theatre, with Keya understanding the difference as one between a theatre centered around social causes and a more experimental theatre that plays around with form rather than content.  

There are descriptions of scenes of potentially radical experimentation, and an attempt to give the amateur theatre a sort of systematized history through the archiving of certain iconic performances at iconic places. Keya’s questions to the directors encompass political aspirations of the thespians, their choice of script, their stagecraft and dramaturgy. She attempts to bring forth a certain transformative power of cultural production in the context of continuous student strikes and campus-centered political violence. It will be interesting to explore this process of writing about politics and campus theatre and of archiving it.

Chakrabarti, Keya, The Theatre of Today: Some Young Faces, from Keyar Boi, Ed. Chittaranjan Ghosh, Published by Subrata Pal on behalf of Nandikaar, March 1981, Kolkata

First published in Chaturanga, January 1971

In a certain sense, “news” is a very interesting thing. When one reads the newspaper every morning, news of burning schools, theft of money, theft of weaponry, bombings and murders singe the eye. It is even more upsetting when one sees that the main initiators[1] and casualties[2] in this destructiveness[3]are the youth. [Surely] young people are also doing things that do not make headlines—creative things—which could also have been covered by the papers if they had a different set of values. Kolkata, the city of theatre[4] has numerous non-professional theatre groups. The majority of these are fruits of the imagination, dedication and labour of a few young people. Recently, I had the good fortune of interviewing the directors two such theatre groups. My feeling was that their work was important in the context of theatre as well as Bengal’s society at large. A brief description of the two groups has been given below.

Bir Sen, the director of the theatre group Silhouette, had established the group in 1968 while studying B.Sc. in Dumdum Matijheel College. At that time he was 19 years old. He is now pursuing his M.Sc. in Mathematics. The average age of the members of his group is 21. Some of the boys are merely 14 or 15. There are no consistent female members.

“Why did you name the group ‘Silhouette’?”—I question.

“A production needs to have photographic precision. That apart, the name has an affinity with my ideals. A few clearly defined lines on a canvas of smoky darkness—that is what Silhouette is”, says Bir Sen.

“How many shows do you do every month?”

“Two.”

“Why so few?”

“We don’t get hall bookings.  Plus shortage of money.”

Silhouette’s first production was the one-act play Nirbashito Hridoy (Exiled Heart), written by Bir Sen himself. This was in January 1968. November of the same year saw the staging of another of Bir Sen’s one-act plays—Aalo’r Aalo (Light of Lights). The next production was in 1969, that of Samadhan, Utpal Dutt’s translation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Measures Taken. After that, on the 27^th of May, 1970, they staged Abritto Doshomik in Bishwaroopa, another of Bir Sen’s works, this time a full-length play. This became their most well-known production. Speaking about his own writing, Bir said that his earlier works, such as Nirbashito Hridoy, was centered more on the personal[5]. The point that the play was trying to make was that all of us are dead. “But after that my point of view has definitely changed. I have leaned more towards the social. For example, in Aalo’r Aalo I have tried to tell the inside story of unemployment. I have tried to show how the powerful people of the society keep youth unemployed and useless for their own selfish means”, says Bir. Their most recent work, Abritto Doshomik has been written as well as directed by him. The play is episodic—a series of apparently unrelated pieces. The first scene is ‘University’. A person is selling questions. Two actors dressed like clowns appear and dress him up as a distributor of degrees. Now starts the distribution of degrees. The two clown figures also play the role of poster bearers, changing posters or placards after each episode.  The second scene is called ‘Publishing Agency’. The scene deals with the artist’s loss of integrity and the commercializing of his art. The fourth scene, called ‘The Princes and Their Games on the Royal Road[6]” depicts the exploitation and harassment of the youth. The fifth scene named ‘The Ashram of Emancipation’ talks about so-called professional emancipators who recite idealist philosophy and political methods and deceive the common people. This scene has been divided into two parts—Birth Control and Lottery. Simple everyday people are being fooled into thinking that the only ways of livelihood are red triangles and suddenly acquired money.  The sixth scene, ‘Closed Doors’, speaks of the many problems of the worker such as lockouts and layoffs. The next scene of ‘Tadikhana’ or ‘Toddyshop’, speaks of the anemic[7] and half-dead existence of farmers being oppressed under feudalism and capitalism. In the eighth scene, ‘Decision’, the playwright[8] writes about himself: “This is our society. I was trying to avoid the oppressed, but they clung to me like an octopus. They asked me, ‘How will we live? How will we live well without breaking down society[9]?’ “, the bourgeois playwright stands still in a manner of interrogation. The audience is encouraged to find answers.

In the recent years I have not seen too many plays of such uniqueness[10] and social relevance been written in Bengal. The oppression and corruption of the present society has been drawn in clear lines of satire by the playwright. Yet, the political or social content of the play has not become dry. Dances, songs and the use of posters and other such variety in form give this production the ability to wow audiences. The play has seven songs and many dances. The songs have been composed by Girindra Bandyopadhyay and Bir Sen. The dances have also been choreographed by Bir himself.

‘Why did you use a Brechtian form for this play?’ When asked this, Bir responded: “I have read Miller, Pirandello, Beckett. They were not agreeing with my thoughts. When I read Brecht I felt as if he was talking about us. One can feel the pulse of the people more clearly in Brecht. That apart, Brecht’s form[11] has similarities with our Jatra. Of course, Jatra is mainly playing on the emotions. And Brecht’s vision is akin to a scientist—sharpened, intelligent. On the subject of the aim of playwriting, Brecht had once said, ‘I want to capture the truth and the mirth of life’. This is why I like Brecht. Of course, we are not going to obligate ourselves to follow any specific form every time. I want to specifically do those plays in which there are scientific analysis of social conditions. Along with that, the play should have artistic standards.”

Silhouette’s next production is Paris Commune. But this not a translation of Brecht’s famous play The Days of the Commune. This Bir Sen’s original work. In fact, he had not even read Brecht’s play while writing this script. Later when he had read it, he had felt that Brecht’s play was oriented mainly towards political analysis. Bir’s work is political as well—it speaks of businessmen monopolizing the ruling class in order to protect selfish class interests. But he stresses more on the wants and desires of the common people. His face ablaze with excitement, the young playwright goes on—“You know, this play has a character of a man behind a mask, unmasking which will reveal the face of an animal, that is the character’s real appearance[12]. That apart, there will be dancing, singing.”

“Why singing?”—I ask.

“It takes a lot of words to express something in prose. It wastes time[13]. Songs can express so much in so little time. Plus, I want to make the production interesting”, he responds.

Other things that are worth knowing[14] about Silhouette—they have taken permission from the owner of an abandoned building[15] to use it as a rehearsal space. They are happy they don’t have to pay rent. Their budget is tight. “We ourselves arrange for the funds for shows. We have pleaded and begged our friends and made them buy tickets, as in ‘push-sale’. We even get invited to perform sometimes. Then we feel a little relieved financially. We had once got invited for a show in Ranchi. Once at a call-show in Barrackpore we got 350 rupees. But we got the most handsome amount when we performed Abritto Doshomik at Shyamsundar College in Bardhhaman. 500 at one go.”

 The question that should have been asked first comes at the very end—“Why do you do theatre?” I ask.

Bir Sen responds: “One of the greatest mediums that express human life is theatre. I want to communicate with the people. I want to raise public awareness. Boys of our age are stepping into the traps of selfish opportunists without even realizing it themselves. I want to awaken their intellect. I want to change society by awakening the sleeping people. But a neutral, scientific vision needs to be there. I will not be a one-eyed deer[16]. I will not blinker my vision.”

In the context of communication with the people[17], Bir waxes eloquent about the Berliner Ensemble. He mentions an instance when the members of the Ensemble had gone to the workers of a chemical factory in order to get feedback for their work. On the reverse of tickets for Silhouette’s shows, one reads a question addressed towards the audience—“Let us know what you think of the performance”. At the end of a show, the members of the group ask the audiences about their opinion regarding the play.  Because of their keenness for this kind of connect with people, they have opened their own theatre group instead of joining other more well-known[18] groups. My understanding is that their orientation is more towards the social. Yet, they are not exclusive of the personal either. Brecht-loving actor-playwright-director Bir Sen and his group want to capture the entirety of life.

  

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[1] Hota

[2] Boli

[3] Binaashyajna

[4] Mecca?

[5] Byaktik

[6] Rajpothey Rajkumarder Leela

[7] Roktoheen

[8] ModhyoShwattobhogi-srenibhukto

[9] “Shomajke na Bhenge ki kore shundorbhabe bNachbo?”

[10] Shilpottirno Moulik

[11] Natyareeti

[12] Swarup

[13] Onek Shomoy Jaye

[14] Jnatobyo

[15] Baganbari

[16] Ek chokhhu horeen

[17] Jonojogajog

[18] Cholti?