A Brief History of this text’s composition
Academic
and research work of Sisir Majumdar.
Trained in
the Discipline of Bengali Literature(uptil his PhD.)
1966-university
college, Raiganj, North Bengal, first witnesses Folk Theatre.
1972-Being
part of folk theatres across North Bengal
1984-PhD on
Folk Theatre, from Calcutta University.
1984/85-Brings
out a little magazine called Lok Natya. Claims he is possibly the first one to
be awarded a Phd for this.
1989-Kalyani
University establishes a department of Folk Culture, invited to teach Folk
Theatre.
1986-First
Time his anthology of folk theatres of North Bengal is published.
This text
is an abridged version of his larger anthology.
Sisir Majumdar.
Loknātya-Nātaka-Katha. (Kolkata: Mom,
date not mentioned)
First
published by Paschim Banga Nātya Academy, on 9th December
2005.
Section I
Chapter 1
The definition of Folk Theatre
The word “Lok Nātya” is modern but “Nātya" is ancient. However, in any folk
culture, these words are not prevalent. What we specify as“Lok Nātya” (Folk Theatre), is
predominantly known as “Gān”
(song) to the folk culture. In the language of North Bengal’s Dinājpur, its called “Gāun.” The performers are called “Gāundars”, “Pātyal”. Musical dialogues dominate in these
performances, so they are called “Gān”
or “Gāun”. Needless to say, the folk
culture is primarily composed of the audience.
Sukumar Sen has proposed a meaning of the word,
“Nātya”. In his words, “Nat’er kormo”
or “The activities of a Nat”[1].
In this light, folk theatre might be considered the activity of folk Nats. But
when we think of Nat, we are reminded of a skilled class of people. The Nattya
title is particularly reminiscent of that.
In North Bengal, there is no one class of
people trained in the art of performance. Those who indulge in performances,
they are called by different names-“Angiyā(Rangiyā)“, “Osiyā(Rasiyā)
“, “Gāin”. They are primarily peasants
and more than half are below the poverty line. From their own experiences, they
orally compose[2]
the “Gān” or “Gāun” or song-dance performances. All of these
people belong to the same socio-cultural-geographical stratum and are strongly
tied together by their creed/faith. The producers of their performance are
their audiences, who belong to the socio-cultural-geographical spectrum.
Throughout the year, according to auspicious
days of the Bengali lunar calendar, the episodic rituals circumscribe their day
to day life, and form the content of their performances. I will take up the
issue of content, as I go on.
In these communities of North Bengal, there are
some folk philosophies which exist predominantly at the level of beliefs. From
this philosophy, the community performances which are born, are sometimes
labelled as being religious-although the folk culture is hardly aware of this
word “Dharmiyā” or
religious. For example, in the times of drought, to usher in the rains, the
anxious community performs a ceremony, replete with theatrical idioms.
Progressive societies will describe these as cult practices, rituals, magic.
The community believes that performing these rituals will resolve the drought
and bring rain.[3]
But the very occurrence of theatrical idioms in
ritual performances doesn’t classify them as “Nātya” or theater. “Bibāha” (marriage) is the name of such a
performance laden with ritual acts, such acts which borrow from theatrical
idioms but we don’t call it a “Bibāha
Nātya” (Theatre of Marriage). On the
other hand, in theatre, we imitate a wedding taking place, and this happens,
because theatre is widely understood as a mimetic activity.[4]
The dance element in folk theatre can’t be
separated from the form of folk theatre. Dance is also a mimetic form. But “nātya” and “nrtya” are not the same, because
“nātya” manifests the rasa and nrtya
manifests the bhāva.[5]
Even though this argument pertains to classical theatre and dances, its
pertinent in the context of folk theatre. A majority might argue that the dance
element of folk dance is largely quotidian. Which means, it is composed of
improvised gestures which are rhythmic and not conveying emotions, distinct
from the orthodox vocabulary of a dance. No rasa or bhava is born out of it.
But sometimes, this improvised movement does crystallize into a fixed
vocabulary of dance, although that can’t be expected to approximate the
classical forms. For example, when the folk are knit shoulder to shoulder to
the tunes of a song or even without a musical accompaniment, just to the beats
of a drum, the “ādivāsi” maidens are dancing shoulder to
shoulder, that is the manifestation of their togetherness. “Lok nātya” or “nrtya” is never
pre-meditated, its foundational characteristic is spontaneity. That is why its
non-unified, unstructured, simple, unmediated. I’ts not tied up in formulaic
rules. But classical theatre is rigid,
complex, sophisticated and demands mathematical exactness, which is impossible
achieve in the life of these folk communities.
In the composition and execution of folk
theatres, the individual’s presence goes unacknowledged. There the village
society or the folk community envelops and manifests itself beyond all individual
tribes or collectives, in all aspects, be it content, performance or
spectatorship. Let me give me an example from the context of North Bengal.
In earlier times, in case of Khan(a type of
folk theatre), it was brought into being by the indigenous or pastoral populace;
however in the non-partitioned Dinājpur,
in the settler colonies, diverse communities, including Muslims comprise the
performers, producers and audience of Khan. Again, the Songs of Jang, performed
during Muharram is performed by the entire, undivided indigenous and pastoral
communities. The audience of such a forum is not just the indigenous, pastoral
or Muslim community, but several others who compose the body of the village
society. For this reason, folk theatre is not limited in its scope, its
egalitarian. Possibly, while noting these features of Folk Theatre, Balwant
Gargi had said “Folk Art crosses the borders of class, religion and country.
The classical often imposes these barriers because of its esoteric nature.”(To be continued)
Chapter 2
The Classification of Folk Theatre
Folk theatres, folk life and the society are
not mutually exclusive of each other. It can’t be seen separately from the life
of the community or the society. Which is why, classifying folk theatres on the
basis of hardly a few common features is a difficult task.
Folk theatre derives its inspiration from the day-to-day
existence of the folk community. But all lived moments of this communitarian
lifestyle doesn’t contribute to the making of a folk theatre. There are
specific times of the year, allotted for the performance of folk theatres. In
the incessant flow of free play and order, one accidentally stumbles upon
something which elicits their wonder. In the rhythm of life, such aesthetic
responses are registered as moments of transition. And in aesthetic terms, this
is known as folk theatre.
Hence, the folk theatre is in essence, a source
of amazement. This wonder, amazement, allows the art form to identify itself in
contrast to its environment. But this independent identity helps it comment and
maintain a balance in the social order. Let’s posit an example.
When the sun rises, the farmer heads out to the
field for work. He returns home, after the day’swork is done. In this short
span of time, a lot of incidents take place, which leave him in a state of awe.
These events are not discrete and separate from each other, rather they follow
an episodic pattern. In this context, the reader might note the “Halua-haluani”
plot that I have anthologized.
This is just one facet of the life of the folk
community, intimately tied with their day-to-day existence. For instance, when
the farmer goes to market for trading in his crops, we didn’t identify that act
as folk theatre. Even the performers, producers of folk theatre are aware of
this. If you observer very closely the folk theatres of North Bengal that I
have anthologized, when an event at the market has not proceeded in a
theatrical manner, the composers of the plot have just said, “This is a market
scene.” It can also be, “Returning from the market” or “He heard this news, on
going to the market.” Then again, in those market scenes laden with theatrical
potential, the betel-leaf seller roams around the entire space, singing songs
and pawning his goods. Through the performance of the betel leaf seller, we can
perceive a market scene coming into being(note the “Dhakoshori” plot).
Thus it’s proved, that not every daily event of
the folk life is a source of theatre, some events are theatrical in nature.
In this regard, I perceive two forms of folk
theatre,
1) Unperceived i.e.-When the folk
theatre comes into being, without any conscious effort towards doing it.
2) Perceived i.e. - When the folk
theatre is brought into being, consciously, for the sake of mining out
theatrical pleasure.
The first form is intimately tied
with the lived experience and social feelings of the folk. For example, the
election of the headman in the indigenous, pally, princely circles. This
category may also include, the search for suitable brides or grooms, an
exercise to foster fellow-feeling, rituals to overcome droughts or excessive
rainfall or the numerous oath taking ceremonies. The structure of all these
ceremonies has been crystallized, left undisturbed and are similar to one
another. Needless to say, the folk theatre doesn’t have a perceivable form.
In the second form, the folk theatres are
distinctly perceivable. For instance, the songs sung or the “Gāun” performed, requires a specific
performance space, at specific times of the year. In the centre of the
performance space, the singers, musicians and actors, sit together in a circle.
Keeping them as the centre, at a radial distance of 3 or 4 hands, the play is
performed in a disc shaped area. Circumscribing them, in the outermost circle
the audience or spectator is seated. This performing arena is neither
artificially constructed nor at a height above the audience. In anybody’s
courtyard or in the religious portico or in some fallow land, this space can be
marked out at any point of time. If it’s not possible to construct a tent above
the entire space, then atleast, above the acting area, a “kona chador” or “chadoya”
is spread out. If a ceiling is created out straw and bamboo, below that a false
ceiling is made of the “chadoya” or a special sheet of cloth. (To be continued)
[1]Sukumar Sen, Nat Nātya Nātak
(Chaitra 1372) 11.
[2] Of late, they have started writing down their compositions.
Initially, the performance is composed orally by a group of people, and this
forms the basic plot structure. In Bardhaman, Birbhum, “Neto” or “Leto” dance
sequences are prevalent. Sukumar Sen informs us that sequences of “Neto” are
all orally composed. Songs are their only performance capital. Ibid 120.
[3] Its notable that in these rituals, the female folk take the lead.
On certain occasions, the male members are completely excluded. Towards the
beginning of civilization, the right to cultivate crops was with women and
alongwith agriculture, an entire cottage industry was owned and controlled by
women. Even now, after losing the right to cultivate, in some rituals
associated with agriculture, the presiding power of women still goes
unchallenged and their immense presence bears a testimony to a different past.
[4] I have expressed this opinion keeping in mind, certain comical and
ritual plays. This observation doesn’t apply generally to all folk theatres.
[5] Pabitra Sarkar, “Nātoker byakaron o dhananjayer dashrupak”(The
Grammar of Theatre and The Ten Rupaks of Dhananjaya). Nātyamancha Nātyarupa (A Collection of articles on dramaturgy and
Bengali theatre). (Kolkata: Dey’s Publishing, 2008) p 3.
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