The heinous crime perpetrated by rapists on women in recent years has shaken the collective conscience of the nation. Reacting to the savagery, theatre artists have expressed their anguish and grave disquiet through their theatrical enactments. One such serious attempt is made by Shapno Ekhon which presented “Galpo Shesher Pore” at Bipinpal Auditorium in New Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park recently.
An experimental theatrical piece, it seeks to use mystic Baul music, fables, slice of real life and choreography to evoke a sense of deep anxiety and protest against horrific treatment meted out to women by a sex maniac. Its message to create a society in which empowered women can lead a life of freedom without fear rings out clearly and boldly.
Written, designed and directed by Shomik Ray, the play opens with a scene where artists have assembled to rehearse a play. The atmosphere is light-hearted. The artists seem to have been oblivious to what is happening outside the rehearsal room. Enters a lady artist in a state of shock, she tells her co-artists in a choked voice what has happened to Nirbhaya. Resenting the smugness of artists, she raises searching questions about the civic duty of the artists. She leaves the rehearsal room in a highly disturbed state of mind. Deeply perturbed with the shocking revelation by the female artist, all artists leave, pondering over the question how collectively they can act against a morally disgusting society.
Then the action is shifted to medieval era. Against a painted backdrop, the social life of a rural landscape comes to life. We watch schools, women doing their routine chores. The harmonious life of the villagers suddenly ruptures. An atmosphere of terror prevails. The incidents of kidnapping and rape of women have become rampant. Unable to protect the honour of women, villagers go to the local ruler. A dull-headed ruler surrounded by his idiotic ministers, decides that the best way to deal with the menace of kidnapping and rape of women is to resort to female infanticide. An order to this effect has been issued. The police force of the state have been alerted to keep a watch on women who are about to deliver baby. Ironically, the first female child is born to the queen herself after the inhuman order becomes effective. The queen is surrounded by soldiers who are making necessary arrangements to grab the infant.
However, the son of the king fiercely resists the attempt of the soldiers. The ruler is compelled to withdraw his order. Ever since the survivor female infant is being worshipped by women as their saviour. Over the years, it has taken the shape of ritual and a source of fulfilment of wishes of the female devotees.
The scenes of rituals performed in honour of female deities by women are beautifully enacted with women in colourful costumes. But the director has not used these scenes with delicate choreographic patterns to embellish the production. At the same time he does not glorify such rituals. His aim is to illustrate these visuals as superstitions to perpetuate the evils of a patriarchy. These ritualistic scenes are juxtaposed by rehearsal scenes in which the plight of women in our times is hotly debated with forceful plea to empower women to protect their honour and to enable them to lead a life of liberty and dignity.
Two characters – Boshtomi and Thakur – frequently appear on the stage as well as in the space for the audience singing Baul. Through these songs rendered in melodious voices with mystic aura, the director imparts to the production reflective moments. The production evokes a variety of moods ranging from intensely emotional to serene, from light hearted to disturbing and towards the denouement its tone becomes one of crusading with entire cast holding mashals in their hands, expressing their resolve to eliminate evil forces that rob women of their freedom.
The director has not been able to bind the loose ends at places. The script needs pruning to ensure momentum and focus on the vital issue the production seeks to highlight. The depiction of rural landscape needs to be edited. In fact, its length tends to distract from the main issue. Similarly, the scene of the home of the female protagonist where she interacts with her mother hardly adds to the conflict. It is brief and there is hardly any need to create realistic set for the scene. However, the director is able to impart vitality and emotional force to the climactic scene which is powerful enough to awaken the conscience of the audience to change the inhuman and gender bias system.
In the large cast Shahana Chakraborty as the female protagonist stands out for her forceful portrayal of her character, who is deeply shaken and emotionally disturbed to know about the Nirbhaya case. Kalyan Kumar Sen as the school teacher offers some amusing moments. Ivy Sengupta and Shomik Ray as Baul singers establish a direct rapport with the audience.
