Music, “the food of love”, played on, and then it turned to burning tears and was abruptly replaced by death. Be it love, anger, hatred, regret, or pride, we can conjure up just the image from one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, recall just the words as spoken by one of his unforgettable characters. In the English language, few can rival Shakespeare in his intense descriptions of human beings in the stranglehold of emotion. His plots, that take into their epic sweep the whole range of experience, from a distant observation of historic movements to the intimacy of a lovers’ quarrel, are the epitome of grandeur. So it is unsurprising that “Othello”, one of his most heartrending tragedies, lends itself quite naturally to an adaptation in Kathakali, a classical Indian theatre art that magnifies the best and the lowest of human endeavour to larger-than-life dimensions.
Presented at the just concluded Bharat Rang Mahotsav by the International Centre for Kathakali, New Delhi, it was conceptualised and directed by Sadanam P.V. Balakrishnan, veteran Kathakali artist and former principal of ICK. Balakrishnan is known for his versatility and welcoming the introduction of fresh ideas into Kathakali. The production, which has been presented in the past also, proved a highly successful experiment, particularly as part of the BRM. It featured ICK principal, Evoor Rajendran Pillai, in the title role, with Kalamandalam Anilkumar as Desdemona. The despicable Iago was played with gusto by Thiruvattar Jagadeesan. Jagadeesan’s complete immersion in the role of the villain, interspersed with fast footwork to the accompaniment of chenda, maddalam and other Kathakali percussions elicited applause.
Rajendran Pillai too brought depth and spontaneity to his nayak , the warrior imbued with nobility, courage and passion for his new bride. Depth and spontaneity, one might say, are the highlights of an art like Kathakali. The different rasas are evoked, on the one hand, in an abstract manner as if conjuring an atmosphere, and on the other hand by bringing out individual traits or actions of the character. For example, in the scene where Desdemona’s father Brabantio (Kalabharathy Kalyanakrishnan) complains to the duke (Sadanam M.N. Harikumar) about his daughter’s secret marriage to Othello, we see Othello the confidant yet modest young general in an aside, miming to Iago (who he thinks is his friend), that the father’s bitter predictions — “She has deceived her father and may thee” — are all simply bluster. Later, in the bedchamber, as he swings between his vengeful urge to kill the wife he suspects of being unfaithful and his overriding love for her, we see the conflicting emotions in a larger, more universal context, woven into a tapestry, as it were, by the musicians in consonance with the actor.
The Malayalam verses, rendered in a heart melting manner by Kottakal Jayan, along with Kalamandalam Manikandan, added immensely to the performance. On chenda and edakka were Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan and Sadanam Abhishek Marar, with maddalam by Parassinikadavu Manoj and Sadanam Vijesh.
Kathakali, like other classical theatre forms of the country, used to be traditionally performed over the course of an entire night, that too, taking up only parts of an epic. Depending on the capacity of the performers, a single verse can be elaborated at great length. One did feel that the necessity to pack the entire storyline into approximately two hours and ten minutes makes for a rushed portrayal. The other characters in the adapted script, or attakatha (as the performance text for Kathakali is known) by Sadanam Balakrishnan, were Roderigo, who wishes to marry Desdemona (Hemant Harikumar of ICK), Emilia (Keerthana Vasavan) and Cassio (Divya Ramakrishnan of ICK in a male role).
Particularly noticeable was the loss of layers in Desdemona’s character. The range of bhava skills that the actor playing this feisty, loyal and tragedy-dogged heroine could have called upon found barely a place in the performance.
While the minukku vesham (character type used for women and ascetics) adapted for Brabantio — with grey moustache et al — lent him the appropriate look of a distraught parent, Roderigo (minukku with black moustache) too was fairly memorable, and the duke (pachha or green vesham for noble characters) came off as a benign and just ruler. To represent the complexion of Othello the Moor, repeatedly taunted for his dark complexion, the vesham selected was that used for King Nala (also a pachcha character) from “Nala Charitham” when he is bitten by a snake and turns ‘black’.
Certain other modifications brought out the character traits. Othello, for example, had a shield attached to his costume and carried a sword. In the last scene he carried a lighted lamp and placed it on a stool. A bed was wheeled on to the stage for this scene when he smothers Desdemona, the golden pillow shining in the lamplight ironically. Dimming the stage lights and throwing shadows on the backdrop added to the intensity of the scene.
Kalamandalam Sunil Kumar was in charge of chutty (make-up) and costumes, with greenroom assistants G. Govindan, Satyanarayanan and Unnikrishnan Pillai.
