Chairman of the National School of Drama Ratan Thiyam, the doyen of “Theatre of Roots” movement in Indian theatre, specialises in making use of ancient theatre tradition form in a contemporary context.
He spoke about it to this reviewer at Dwaranda village in Birbhum, where the National School of Drama recently held a festival on everything related to tribal – their dance, music, drama, painting, and culture.
What is your take on the changing contours of theatre and culture?
For me theatre has always been a laboratory process. Almost all the time it is experimental. There are many dangerous aspects in theatre. A director or actor may be accustomed to a particular style, which has been acquired through years of toil. But if he produces it every time in his plays then the audience blames him for being a stereotype, someone who is constantly repeating himself. This is not the case with classical dance. Everything goes by the name of being traditional. On the other hand, experimental work may not always be successful. It then would be impossible to run the company. You may have trained artists whom you have nurtured for 30 or 40 years, but you need money for their sustenance. These are some of the real and every day problems facing theatre.
I have had the chance of seeing “Saigon” in New York, where they have used very advanced technology. How does it compare with our very own home grown theatre?
“Saigon”, “Phantom of the Opera” are Broadway productions which are for tourists. They are for common consumption. They depute highly professional artists. They are interested in making plays which have miracle qualities. The audience should be able to come out from the hall and say wonderful.
Theatre should be able to penetrate into the psyche of people. It should contain a message of protest. It should make people think that there is something wrong with the system, which needs to change. In the last 3,000 years, not a single play has been written without protest.
In theatre there is nothing called present or as for that matter past. Plays that have lasted for long period deal with the eternal values besetting humankind. Plays of Rabindranath Tagore are as relevant today as they were when they were written. So Rabindranath Tagore is contemporary. I am interpreting the plays he has written.
Are his plays such as ‘Muktodhara’, ‘Rakta Karabi’ protests against the system?
Take the example of the play “Raja”. The play is both mystic and symbolic. The theme of the play is the secret dealing of God with the human heart.
Raja is in his paintings too.
His plays are coming through many kinds of interpretation, but we have to do justice to them. Taking inspiration from Tagore is not enough; one has to employ acting skills to produce a successful play.
If you have read him in Bengali you cannot say you know more about the play but if you are mature you will apply it to interpret life. Tagore is constantly speaking about a search which is continuous. He speaks about the soul or ‘atma’ without overtly mentioning spiritualism. He is talking about spiritualism. And to whom does he speak we don’t know like he sang ‘Tumi Kemon kore gaan koro hey guni ami obak hoye suni’. I don’t know how you sing, I hear with wonder. It is a kind of ‘To whom it may concern’.
