Spring and Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) have become synonymous in Delhi for the past few years. This year also, National School of Drama’s 21st BRM promises an enthralling mix of national and international plays.
The international segment of BRM has a total of ten plays selected out of a total of 71 entries received from 14 countries across the globe. The selected plays include five from Asia and five from Europe and the United States.
But numbers matter little! This small bouquet of international plays represents a wide spectrum of content: classics, mythological, historical, contemporary, and satire. It, however, is remarkable to note that while Asian countries are trying to focus more on the problems faced by these societies today, the Western countries are trying more to reinterpret history and mythology in their plays.
Bangladesh’s play “Tragedy of the Polashbari” (Bangla) is one example. Polashbari is a place in Dhaka where a building of an export-garments factory had collapsed in 2005, killing dozens of workers. The other presentation of Bangladesh, “Mrityu Ghar” (Bangla) , is an adaptation of Dea Loher's play “Olga’s Room”. Published in 1992, it is the story of the life and struggles of Olga Benario, the German-Brazilian communist leader who was gassed by the Nazi Germany.
“Kumari and the Beast” (English) from Nepal is the only Asian play which delves into the religious traditions. It tells the story of Kumari Devi – the Goddess, wherein a young prepubescent girl is chosen as Kumari. The conflict between her love and her duties compels her make a difficult choice! Does she have a right to love and be able to make personal choices as any other normal girl? The play debates this question in a society still steeped deeply in customs and traditions.
The other entry from Nepal, Mannu Bhandari’s modern political classic “Mahabhoj” (Nepali) narrates the tale of ordinary humans forced to act as puppets in the vicious grip of the system. It also captures the revolt against the status-quoist tendencies.
“Grease Yaka Returns”, the only play from Sri Lanka, looks at how easily distrust can be sown between various groups in society through the aggregation of relatively small event and incidents. It holds a mirror while giving a warning to the society.
“Live Nukes” from the US is the only Western play that deals with today’s society of the West. It depicts two government lackeys who launch a nuclear weapon and go through metaphorical and literal hell to stop it. “Conference of the Birds”, the other play from the US, is inspired by the epic poem of Farid-ud-Din Attar. Hailing from Nishapur in the north-eastern parts of Iran, Attar was a twelfth century Persian Sufi poet. This play was presented in last year’s BRM also by Nepal as “Charaharuko Sammelan”,
Czech Republic’s play Shakespeare’s “Richard III” (English) is a riveting portrayal of the politics of power, both personal and political, at their most devious and bloody. Director Guy Roberts says, “It is a story that plays out time and time again, and, if anything, has become even more relevant now, over four hundred years after it was written, with corrupt leaders doing absolutely anything to achieve and maintain power.”
“Djyrybyna, the Warrior Woman” (Russian) and “The Trojan Women” (Russian) , both the plays from Russia, depicting the conflict and destruction mounted by the political authority mad with power, take their inspiration from ancient tales. “Djyrybyna” is an ancient Yakut legend from the eastern parts of Russia, and presents ethnic narrating tradition Olonkho, which is a series of heroic epic tales of the Yakut people living in the Siberian terrain of Russia.
“The Trojan Women” is based on the play by Euripides with the same title. “This performance is an effort to understand tragedy as seen today, and to make the ancient text contemporary, but at the same time trying to keep traditions of ancient tragedy intact”, says director Vasilisa Tapliakova.
(The 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav continues in Delhi up to February 21. In Shillong, Dehradun, Nagpur, Puducherry and Vellupuram, the festival continues upto February 18.)
