Theatre on centre-stage

THE theatre world is witnessing a revival of interest in the plays of Bertolt Brecht . Starting in mid-January, "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" is being staged at selected venues around the country. "Matasa Raja", the Kannada version of "Arturo Ui", was staged in Mysore recently. "Matasa Raja", adapted from the original by Lingadevaru Halemane and directed by M. S. Sathyu, was performed by Rangayana, the Repertory Theatre Group established in Mysore by B. V. Karanth.

Sathyu speaks about several issues including his reasons for choosing this particular play, the genre of epic theatre in India and whether social and political satires have any impact at all.

"In a way, the present situation - the social and political situation in India - is very ripe for a play of this sort. Religious fundamentalism is growing and there is a kind of nexus between them (the fundamentalists ) and the underworld. The underworld is becoming more and more powerful, and this will ultimately give rise to Fascist tendencies. And that's why I thought of this play, written in 1941, by Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was in exile in America for about seven years - till 1947, maybe. During that time he wrote some of his best plays and 'Arturo Ui" happened to be one of them."

Brecht was known for his socialist leanings and much of his work was devoted to the expression of political ideas. Has it been possible to adapt "Ui" so that it becomes a convincing play about "the state of India".

"No doubt we have Indianised "Arturo Ui" and have made it more local compared to what it was when it was first written and done. In Germany, they naturally played it after the war, after Hitler's reign, and then they made this particular character, a gangster you know, become a chief and he shaped himself like Hitler. This play can be done in any city because these factors are very common all over the world.

Somehow we ( in India) see the liberal attitude actually diminishing day by day. I mean, we had casteism and things like that, but we've never had any problems with our different religions. But now suddenly, this whole movement of Hindutva has been started, and what the RSS has been doing is coming in the way of the minority communities practising their own beliefs , which is a very dangerous situation. And that is part of the Fascist situation, which is why I see this play as very relevant."

For "Matasa Raja", Sathyu exploited all the available resources in Mysore - lights, settings, trained artistes and the excellent stage of the Bhoomigeeta.

"It took time for this whole idea to seep into the actors' minds. Even now I feel there are some of them who are slightly confused. They have to understand the whole historical and political situation. It is a universal theme. That's the way one has to look at it.

This whole thing has the quality of epic theatre, a form most closely associated with Brecht . So for everyone to understand this kind of theatre it will take time, even though the actors are talented. We must have many more shows only then would this form of theatre will mature.

It is very fast-paced though it is a very long play - 3 and 1/2 hours . I have reduced it to 2 and 1/2 hours. Further editing can be done in some places, but it takes time.

"Matasa Raja" makes use of topical material and documentary evidence of the kind provided by newspaper reports in its treatment of current social and political issues.

"It's all been taken out of the newspapers whic makes it more relevant . It becomes easier for the audience too. Waiting in the dim light of the theatre for the drama to begin, they start reading some headlines and know what to expect. It could be about some gangster killed or that the RSS has a nexus with the BJP or 100 people killed in Kashmir or Bihar or somewhere. We have a panel (stage prop) about Veerappan.You have to prepare an audience. You have to prepare their minds that they have come to see a play which deals with these elements."

Brecht described "Arturo Ui" as "a parable play, written with the aim of destroying a dangerous respect commonly felt for a great killer."

What exactly, does "Matasa Raja" set out to do?

"I've just shown how these gangsters become powerful, how they take over and threaten people. The most vulnerable in this country are people who are in business, who are traders. Even a small shopkeeper can be threatened by a goonda. For example, a vegetable seller can be threatened because he is making cash deals. He can be robbed in the open and nobody will come to help. That is the situation here.

When the economy of a country goes into the hands of these people - the goonda elements - thats it! That means they've become powerful.

Because there is a nexus which is working here. The smugglers are there, the mafia is there, the extremists are there and the police are hand in glove with these people.

Veerappan is just a front - they've built him up. Like so many others. Bhindranwala was built up like this. Wasn't Mrs. Gandhi responsible for making a Bhindranwala, wasn't she responsible for building up a Bal Thackeray in Mumbai?

So all this was done by our politicians themselves and now they don't know how to get out of the situation. Because these fellows are not loyal to you; they have money, they have power. If a person can hold hostages for over 100 days in a small little jungle - how big is that jungle, the area where he (Rajkumar) was? If the editor of a small magazine from Chennai can just walk straight in, what are the other forces - the police and the army - doing? Basically there is no will to do this, because you get exposed and you are benefitted by it, perhaps. This is the situation."

"Matasa Raja" is Sathyu's second Kannada play this year. The first, "Smashana Kurukshetra", staged in Bangalore to co-incide with the first anniversary of Kargil , raised many important questions about war, governance, power and our view of history .

"You see basically what I did in "Kurukshetra se Kargil Tak" ( the Hindi version) was stage an anti-war play. "Smashana Kurukshetra", written by Kuvempu, is an anti-war play. What Kuvempu says is that no issue can be solved by war. You know, you might wage a war because of a particular issue, but you can't really solve that problem - you can't achieve anything. And Kuvempu shows how, in The Mahabharatha, after the entire 18-day battle, after so much destruction, nothing was achieved. The Pandavas did not come to rule, there was no new system which came, nothing happened.

So I extended that theme to Kargil. I am saying that the situation in Kashmir cannot be solved by military force. It has to be solved by people. We have to consider the feelings of the Kashmiri people much more than asking Pakistan or India. Kashmiris themselves, have to decide their own future.

We have spent millions of rupees on maintaining the army in Kashmir and what have we achieved after 52-53 years of Independence? Have the Kashmiri people experienced any kind of independence at all? We are an independent nation , are they independent or part of the nation?

There are so many things they have messed up both politically and otherwise and any number of Kargils are not going to solve the Kashmir problem. War cannot solve it. So that again becomes a relevant theme especially now ... The more we prolong a situation like this, the more we give room for fundamentalism to grow.

Why is the Taliban today so powerful in that area? Not only in Kashmir but all around ? That is because no political decision has been taken, you see. That's why it has given rise to such negative forces, to negative movements to take root and become strong. And the damage they can do is tremendous. And that's one reason why I thought of doing this play because the BJP government is so proud of having had this Kargil.

Do we need more and more Kargils? Is that what our government wants to achieve? We have killed a number of innocent people - both on this side of the border and the other side - nothing else. We give them great honours and Veer Chakras and this and that. So do the Pakistanis - the soldier who dies gets some Nishan-e- Pakistan or something like that. What is the cost of these killings? And you are exonerating yourself by giving an honour or award? Politicians use it not because they are concerned about anything that has happened, whether it is a natural calamity or a man-made calamity like Kashmir. They use this for their own vested interests. This is very common because the whole system is so corrupt."

Throughout his career, Sathyu has shown a marked preference for plays which powerfully reflect our current concerns.

"I normally choose plays which have social or political relevance. I'm more comfortable with this genre, or more concerned, perhaps. But I am not a pioneer. There are a lot of people who do political theatre or political cinema in this country. I'm not very interested in the other kind of very personal drama which is very internal - it's not my cup of tea. I'm not very comfortable doing that kind of stuff. I always like to handle a lot of crowd, a lot of people.

But every kind of theatre is necessary, every kind of cinema is necessary. So you have to do the ones you consider you are good at and feel most confident about."

Does Sathyu feel he's been able to achieve something through these and all his other films on socio-political themes?

"It's not that you expect a film or a theatre performance or a book or things like that to entirely change society. But it helps to make people aware and that's what the purpose is ... this is very necessary. There has to be a discussion, there has to be a probe, there has to be an exposure of corruption. You see, if we don't do it then we become passive spectators. And anybody who is in the world of communication has to participate actively. But his job is only to communicate. Beyond that it is not his job to say that such a film or play would bring about a full change or a revolution - that would be too far fetched.

But this awareness is necessary because there are sensitive people who are leaders in their own way in smaller places. Even in a family, there can be one person who can help change the attitude of that family. Because evil forces are influencing everyone somewhere or the other. Why has the country become so corrupt?

Corruption has become a way of life and even at the highest level, even a Prime Minister, or rather, an ex- Prime Minister, is brought to book, and a Chief Minister is brought in. I mean they are supposed to be people who have led this country; they have to be more responsible and set an example. But unfortunately, we have had situations like this so it is necessary for some of us to create an opinion. You can't just remain passive."

If these social and political satires have any impact at all, why are things going from bad to worse? What is Sathyu's response to this predicament? He's sad and angry, no doubt. But for an artist committed to exposing crime and corruption in high places and promoting probity in public life, the show must go on.

"One is very angry and agitated but what is to be done , how is it to be changed? The positive forces - where are they? They remain too silent, they don't give vent to their feelings and the agitation in them. They criticise things sitting in a drawing room... I am also one of those who sits in a drawing room and discusses things. But I have the advantage of being in the field of communication and I can use television or cinema or theatre to express myself. In the same way I feel others should also express their feelings - it's very necessary."

JUNE GAUR

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