Theatre through the ages

From a beginner's literalism to the hieroglyphs of the newly learnt art called theatre, the Bangali bhadrolok has witnessed a revue of sheer drama, literature, song and emotion on stage for ages. But, what is more engrossing is how it all began in this land which saw the culmination of some serious creations and acceptance of the foreign along with a parallel interest in neural responses to painstaking learning of what came to be known as "theatre" in today's times.

"All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed" — Irish dramatist Seán O'Casey.

Yes, and Bengal was unrehearsed. In the 18th century, at a time when there was a splurge of ideas, notions and deep penetration of foreign knowledge and culture, Bengal, from its rustic jatras or folk plays took a giant leap towards stage-theatres which were solely restricted to the European populace.

Folk theatre developed in various regional languages throughout India between the 14th and the 19th centuries. Some conventions and stock characters of classical drama (stage preliminaries, the opening prayer song, the sutra-dhara and the Vidushaka) were adopted, that witnessed lavish music, dance, drumming, exaggerated makeup, masks and a singing chorus. Thematically, it dealt with mythological heroes, medieval romances and social and political events, and was a rich store of customs, beliefs, legends and rituals.

The most crystalised forms are the jatra of Bengal, the

nautanki, ramlila and raslila of North India, the bhavai of Gujarat, the tamasha of Maharashtra, the terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu and the yakshagana of Karnataka.

Over the years, these jatras became more organised. With the spread of colonial values, drama came to be written in Indian languages and performed on stage by local actors in the last quarter of 19th century.

Bengali theatre, as such, came into existence with Russian adventurer Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev. A multifaceted personality, a violinist and a translator as well, Lebedev translated a play written in English, Richard Paul Jodrell's

The Disguise, a comedy in three acts, into Bengali. It was performed on stage, something new that came with scene settings, as viewed in European theatres of the time. The first Bengali drama was hence staged on November 27, 1795. Lebedev himself composed the music that served as an accompaniment with the verses being compiled by Bharatchandra Ray Gunakar, author of Annadamangal in the early 1750s. It is worth mentioning here that the theatre also witnessed the presence of female actors.

Lebedev, with his keen interest in language and performance, came to Calcutta, the then capital of the British Empire in 1793, as a traveller. He could speak and write in Russian, English and German. In Calcutta, he began to learn Hindi, Sanskrit and Bengali under the guidance of his friend Goloknath Das, a local schoolmaster. And, in return, the latter received lessons in violin and European classical music. Soon, Lebedev became a prominent figure among local Bengali intellectuals. However, the English did not like his hobnobbing with the Bengalis and his theatre was set on fire. He was, eventually, forced to leave Calcutta in 1797.

Theatre, in Bengal, received a massive jolt. However, slowly, nationalistic tendencies in enterprising producers employed theatre as a forum for social and political ideals designed to influence opinions and raise social consciousness. Gradually, the medium became a weapon to promote social and political reforms.

A few Bengali theatre-lovers staged theatres including Nabin Chandra Basu who staged Vidya Sundar in 1835, Tara Charan Sikhdar did Vadrarjun. It was from the second half of the 19th century that the socioeconomic conditions of Bengal and the essence of nationalism were reflected in the plays. Michael Madhusudan Dutta (1824 –'73) was the first dramatist to consciously borrow the western concept and his form of playwrightship rendered an indigenous flavour to those compositions, which were mostly tragic and based on bitter contests. The style, diction, dialogues and characters were exuberant, Sanskritised and tuneful. His play

Sharmistha needs a special mention here.

Dutta's contemporary, Dinabandhu Mitra (1843–87), projected social issues with subtle satire. His Nildarpan (Mirror of the Indigo), highlighting an English planter raping an Indian peasant woman, ushered in a new era in the history of Bengali theatre.

Actor-director-writer Girish Chandra Ghosh (1844–1912) founded the National Theatre in 1872, the first Bengali professional company and toured widely featuring Nildarpan in cities like Delhi and Lucknow. The firebrand speeches and lurid scenes of British brutality resulted in strict censorship of this production. Frustrated by the harsh restrictions, many playwrights turned their attention to historical and mythological themes with veiled symbolism. The heroes and villains of these plays represented the Indian freedom fighter against the British.

Girish's historical tragedies Mir Qasim (1906), Chhatrapati (1907) and Sirajuddaulah (1909) deserve a special mention. DL Roy's (1863–1913) creations reflected the same spirit of nationalism in his historical dramas — Mebarapatan (The Fall of Mebar), Shahjahan (1910) and Chandragupta (1911).

The Star Theatre, built in 1883, along with Minerva and The Classic were the first institutions of commercial Bengali theatre. Here, the first motion pictures made by Hira Lala Sen were screened. Bengali theatre took a significant turn with the Swadeshi movement. A tendency to glorify the past became important to uplift Bengali temperament. Khirodeprasad Bidyabinode's historical theatre

Prapaditya had a huge impact on the audience. Khirodeprasad, DL Roy and Girish Chandra Ghosh were called the trio of Swadeshi theatres.

The first elements of realism were introduced in the 1920s by Sisir Kumar Bhaduri, Naresh Mitra, Ahindra Chowdhuri and Durga Das Banerji together with actresses Probha Devi and Kanka Vati.

In his Srirangam Theatre (shut in 1954), Sisir performed two of his most memorable roles — Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and the shrewd Hindu philosopher-politician Chanakya. Sisir's style was refined by actor-director Sombhu Mitra and his actress wife Tripti, who worked in the Left-wing People's Theatre movement in the 1940s. With other actors, they founded the Bahurupee group in 1949 and produced many of Rabindranath Tagore's plays including

Rakta Karabi (Red Oleanders) and Bisarjan (Sacrifice).

Perhaps the most controversial and certainly one of the most complete theatre personalities that India has produced is Utpal Dutt. His plays, mixed with ideology, triggered widespread debate. Often called an "opportunist", "adventurist" or a "flaming comrade", depending upon how closely a given play toes the critics' thoughts, Utpal Dutt emerged as one of the finest actors both on stage and in Hindi films as well. His plays that were critical towards contemporary socio-political reality helped create Peoples Little Theatre which brought in a different kind of theatre culture in Bengal.

The IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association) was reorganised in August 1967, at Bagbazar Reading Library Hall. Earlier, the formation of the IPTA in 1943, following the launch of the Quit India Movement, was no mere coincidence. During this period, those who felt the need to participate in the political process attempted to strengthen nationalism through creativity and pursue social realism, thus invigorating progressive forces.

Against a backdrop of the Second World War, Bengal famine of 1943 and the repressive British rule, this association brought together legendary playwrights like Prithviraj Kapoor, Utpal Dutt, Shambhu Mitra, Bijon Bhattacharya, Ritwik Ghatak, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Salil Chowdhury, Pandit Ravi Shankar, S Tera Singh Chan among others. The movement brought about by IPTA heavily influenced not only Indian drama but also cinema and music.

Other important names in Bengali theatre were Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay (founder of Nandikar in 1960), Bibhash Chakraborty, Manoj Mitra, Partha Pratim Chowdhury, Chhabi Biswas, Jahar Ganguly, Sarajubala Debi, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Robi Ghosh, Soumitra Chatterjee and Basanta Choudhury.

The new century brought in a fresh set of minds into the business. Bratya Basu, currently a minister in Mamata Banerjee's Cabinet, has a rich background of theatre and was involved with Bengali drama from a very young age. Son of popular theatre personality Bishnu Basu, Bratya authored Ashaleen, Shahriyar, Aranyadeb, Chatushkon. One of his plays that became immensely popular during his initial days was Winkle Twinkle. In 2008, Bratya formed a theatre group called Bratya Jon.

Represented solely by the folk forms for centuries, modern Marathi theatre evolved in the 19th century. At the behest of King Patwardhan of Sangli, Vishnudas Bhave composed Sita Swayamvar, which was performed on November 5, 1843.

Earlier, the Bombay Parsi firms, using Hindi and Urdu, toured throughout India. The Maharashtrian theatre was developed by powerful dramatists like Khadilkar and Gadkari, who emphasised Maratha nationalism.

In the 1860s, came plays like VJ Kirtane's

Thorale Madhavrao Peshawe. The status of women became a point of discussion by the 1870s, with lesser-known plays such as Swairasakesha propagating the shaving of hair by widows. But, gradually, the concept changed and pro-women plays came into existence, addressing issues such as child marriage, widowhood and girls' education. Bhave's Gopichand was staged in Bombay in 1853 and it became the first Marathi play to be staged in the city. Bombay was the place where the seeds of professional Marathi theatre were sown.

From Narayan Shripad Rajhans, better known as Bal Gandharva, Vasant Kanetkar and Satish Alekar to Atul Pethe, Makarand Sathe, all maintain an unobtrusive reserve that sums up the inherent nature of Marathi culture.

From the decline of the sangeet natak (Marathi musicals) in the 1940s to the populist plays of the 1950s and 60s, to the highly energetic offerings by Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Elkunchwar and Satish Alekar in the 1970s, to the path-breaking Dalit and Kaamgaar (labourers) theatre of the 1980s, the modern Marathi theatre has had several milestones and limitations.

In the 1960s, Girish Karnad came to the fore with his plays that saw the immense use of history and mythology. In 1978, Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai's most iconic theatre hotspot, came into being. It was built by Shashi Kapoor in memory of his father Prithviraj Kapoor.

Today, with dedicated top-notch theatre festivals, international collaborations and an urge to experiment with different styles of drama, the journey of Indian theatre ahead is promising, long and as interesting as it was during its inception!