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Magazine
Classic protest theatre
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Kulavai 2003 (organised by the Voicing Silence project of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai) was an experiment in creative expression and open-minded dialogues on disturbing socio-political and cultural questions. V.R. DEVIKA reviews the proceedings.
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Communicating directly with the audience ... Usha Nangiar.
"Women's theatre? Lots of crying I suppose," said a young friend. "Every episode in a TV soap must have a woman shedding copious tears."
True. Even protest theatre. Rewriting classics that have been unfair to the woman in the story, re-looking at women in the epics. These have become classic protest theatre of the woman. Kulavai 2003 (organised by Voicing Silence project of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation) gave us a taste of everything. The traditional with its code of performance structure, serious theatre with a message, self reflective, critical examination and ideological rethinking of the woman characters in the Puranas and Epics and folk lore, and an enquiry into the nature of the self in a situation that dramatises the contradictions and paradoxes of a society at a crucial phase of transformation.
Nine different actresses from different disciplines and concerns gave their best solo performances. It was experimentation in creative expression and open-minded dialogues on disturbing socio political and cultural questions.
The traditional art forms naturally worked better than the experimental. There was Indira Bala from Andhra Pradesh with her vast range of music, dance and dialogue telling the episode of Nartana Sala in the Mahabharatha. Her voice modulations were extraordinary and it did not matter that many did not understand Telugu.
The other traditional performance that had the audience riveted was that of Usha Nangiar's "Nangiar Koothu" showing the Poothana episode. Without the help of lyrics or explanations she made direct communication with the audience. "Nangiar koothu" is an unique theatrical form developed as part of the ancient tradition of Kerala's Sanskrit theatre koodiyattam. It consists of solo performance and is performed by Nangiars, women of the temple-dwelling Nambiar community. Combining various aspects of abhinaya, the performance strictly adheres to the classical style and discipline evolved over centuries.
Indira Bala ... going beyond constraints of language.
Then there was the other traditional ensemble form of Tamil Therukoothu adapted to the solo form enacted by Usha Rani, who performed "Pani-t-thee" (Frozen Fire), the story of Amba-Shikhandi. The idiom of koothu and isai natakam project maleness and femaleness, while the transformation of male into female, as revealed by costume and make-up, offered a parallel text. As Shikhandi sheds male codes of dress and Amba emerges, the play arouses emotions that transgress boundaries. Usha Rani's dramatic presence in the Koothu garb and the transformation in to woman, her high pitched voice, her confident narration and her song made her solo performance captivating.
Nearer the traditional yet charting her own course was Sapna, from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. "Luna", scripted and directed by Tripurari Sharma, was developed through Allarippu, a group engaged in theatre in education, which has been working with traditional forms like Khayal, Nautanki, Tamasha and Pandvani. "Luna", an epic poem in Punjabi by poet Shiv Kumar Battalvi, retells the folk tale of Luna and Pooran. In the legend, Luna is the seductive stepmother who vainly tries to tempt Pooran, the stoic devotee of God. But the poet pictures her as a young girl married against her wishes to an aged king. Both victim and survivor, Luna is a multi-faceted character, expressing her love and pain through the narrative elements of Pandvani. Bhagirathi and Laxmi Chandrasekhar from Karnataka both decided to look at women from the epics and the Puranas. While Laxmi juxtaposed various characters in a modern context, Bhagirathi had a text (written by K. Vaidehi and directed by K.V. Subbanna) examining Kalidasa's "Shakuntala". This Shakuntala is not bound by time and place, but is universal, introspective and exploring; not a victim of rejection, but one who can give lessons in self-esteem to all women, and who, after asking herself many questions, finally finds the courage to make a difficult decision. Bhagirathi decided to perform the Kannada play in Hindi and carried off with élan with nothing else but her voice to help her.
Laxmi Chandrasekhar is a member of the Kannada theatre group Samudaya (meaning community) which believes in theatre as an instrument for social change. She has developed two solo performances in Kannada and English. The play "Just a Woman", directed by Soumya Varma, was conceived and scripted by Laxmi. Drawing on performances, oral and written sources, the actress tells a poignant tale of oppression and resistance. The narrator, a modern middle-class woman, weaves together the words and stories of various women (fictional and real), using masks, costume, music, props and different styles of acting to bring the characters alive and examine the consequences for women of patriarchy.
"E-Loko", performed in Gujarathi by Aditi Desai was directed by Rajoo Barot, and adapted by Saumya Joshi from a prize-winning play "A Shaft of Sunlight" by Abhijat Joshi. It attempts to explore subtle but deeply ingrained prejudices. An old wall, claimed by both Hindus and Muslims, becomes both the focus of terrible conflict and the central image of the play. The storm in the city is reflected in the storm in the home, as the raging struggles, grievances and tensions of two women from different communities, locked together in one family, pour out as personal blame and anger. How can this wall of distrust ever be broken down? Aditi Desai's form was verbose but intense and effective.
But Kalai Rani, a gifted Tamil actress, seemed to have been lost in getting "Rain" ready for Kulavai 2003. Kalai Rani uses her voice and body with intensity and imagination, drawing on her deep knowledge of folk and classical South Indian theatrical forms. But the text of her solo, "Rain", became disjointed and immature. Kalairani needed a good director to tighten the narrative. She used the metaphor of the rain to speak of inner turmoil and mundane living, the individual's relationship to the rain, the politics of water and popularity but relied too much on props. It became neither a play nor a poem nor a text.
Kulavai 2003 made us experience a new reality that the silent one through the silence overpowers the more articulate one. And that the magic is in the not so articulate. And that spontaneous theatre as the one Maya Krishna Rao did offers a free access to the deep springs of life.
All her world is a stage
ADITI DESAI comes across as a very intense person. Talking about the play, herself and her work in the camps after the riots in Gujarat, she says, "It takes immense courage to talk about the riots. In fact, that is the reason why I have come as a group. They say everything is normal in Gujarat but scratch the surface and you will find great fear among the middle class."
"E Loko", her mono play in Kulavai 2003 is set against the background of a riot that has broken out due to the blasting of a wall considered holy by both Muslims and Hindus. There is a riot within a household too where the daughter-in-law, a Muslim, is shunned by her family for marrying a Hindu. Altaf, who blasted the wall to draw attention to himself, takes refuge in Safina's house. Safina's mother-in-law — a staunch Hindu — has built a wall between herself and Safina but finally she takes the initiative to save Altaf. "Only when I went to work in the camps did I realise the extent of the rioting. I also thought that the media was exaggerating but we have video documentation of the horrors suffered by many people."
What about the positive and courageous acts of a few people who have gone beyond the mob frenzy and protected some people?
"The important thing is to work on perception," says Aditi Desai. "People must look into what they are thinking about each other's community. During the earthquake, when we went around collecting clothes and other material, people gave easily. But when we asked for slippers for children with burnt legs, they said they were happy about what happened. They were happy because they don't know what suffering is themselves. They are actually contributing to the growth of terrorism."
I ask about her entry into theatre. "My father Jashwant Thaker was a well known theatre director of Gujarat. I started acting in plays from 14." Later, Aditi began to work in street theatre. "But I felt that just performing on some issue does not solve any problem. So I began to develop theatre workshops for tribals and other communities in the rural areas. After many such workshops I asked myself `what next?' I did many open ended plays with tribal groups that involved audiences giving direction to the play. After the riots, I felt I must go back to the stage and start reaching out to the middle class."
"Women have a world view very different from men. They are the real catalysts," she continues. "Maya Krishna Rao made a very good comment in her comedy about the need to get away from fixtures of women of the Puranas and Epics and their hang-ups. We have to look ahead and look at what is happening today. But I wanted to stay in the here and now and talk about current issues in a contemporary manner."
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