There is something to cheer about the Surabhi drama artistes. Known all over Andhra for their mythological stage plays, it is the one and only drama company that has been active for 130 years without a hiatus. Come hell or high water, Surabhi family held on to the one vocation which is the pivot of their lives —Telugu drama; the troupe has artistes (family members) spanning across all ages from 80 to six-month-old! They are all there on stage and nowhere else.
Of the two shows that were hosted recently at Meghdoot under the aegis Sangeet Natak Akademi, “Maya Bazar”, a very popular mythological which tells the story of romance and marriage between Arjun’s son Abhimanyu and Yadu king Balram’s daughter Sashireka. It is a wholesome treat to Telugu-speaking audience who went back on the time machine way into the 60s! What is to be appreciated is the rusticity of these drama folk that has remained unmindful of change and times. Perhaps their appeal in their native place lies in re-creating ages-old drama which is replete with reciting/singing verses in place of conversation in chaste Telugu, use of garish curtains to depict change of scenes; equally garish costume to replicate mythological characters and so on. Comic element was a part of drama then, and it is present in the form of one character, in this case, Revantha, brother-in-law of Balram. Sophistication if any appeared in the form of props which were creatively used like for instance, Abhimanyu and Subhadra riding the chariot crossing the stage, the waterfall in the forest, the flying birds through string, the fiery arrow flying to combat the flying mace and annihilating with a sharp fire thud; the line of real fire surrounding Abhimanyu,; the crocodile seat of Bhima’s son Ghatotkacha which spits fire every now and then and the backdrop that of a huge monster whose eyes keep rolling sideways. What was even more impressive to the viewers was tiny tots dressed like miniature demons moving across the stage with tiny weapons in hand.
This apart, the dialogues followed by verse recitation by Lord Krishna and others like sage Narad were full of wise-cracks. Nothing much to write home about the physical appeal of actors donning their respective roles, since it is all within the family where looks and personality can vary but then all the actor-actresses had powerful voices, the tone and tenor of which could deliver dialogues with as much ease as drop into songs without batting an eyelid in absolute clarity. Of the actors, R.Subhakara who essayed Abhimanyu with elan was the best followed by R. Kumar Babu (Balram) and R. Dinakara (Krishna) — the former proved an actor of calibre while the latter was of impressive physique. The demonic characters Hidimba and Ghatotkacha looked grotesque to say the least. Reference to Krishna as ‘kapata nataka sutradari’, a constantly-changing Balram referring to himself as ‘consistent as the Himalayas’, Narada’s entry through the ceiling—a little boy dressed as the sage suspended by a string swoops down and disappears only to appear as adult Narada frontstage—went well with the audience. A live orchestra (synthesiser and tabla/drum) recreated a slice of the rural ambience.
