Patriarchy is multi-faceted. Like the mythological Hydra, its many heads keep invariably growing back, even as you keep slashing away at them. Pitha Uktha (Thus Spoke the Father), a theatre production in Malayalam directed by Shibu S Kottaram for the School of Drama & Fine Arts, Thrissur, is an attempt to dissect the clutch of patriarchy over women through an analysis of two historically famous father-daughter relationships.
The play featured a huge cast of 32 actors. The primary text created by Rajarajeswari Easwaran, with the narrative script written by M Jeeva, Associate Professor, Pondicherry Central University, is woven around the letters written by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to his daughter Indira Priyadarshini and by Ernesto Che Guevera to his children.
A scene during ‘Pitha Uktha’
The text is informed by the writings of Dr BR Ambedkar, Periyaar and Vaikundaswamy. Verses of Akka Mahadevi, compiled by Kannada poet Vasantham and translated by Surabhi MS, are also included.
The text, which encompasses mostly letters from Nehru and Che to their children as well as conversations between both the leaders and monologues of the children, reveals how women are sidelined, both within the family and in the outside world, in the political scenario. Che’s second wife, Alieda, was also a revolutionary and member of Fidel Castro’s Cuban army, but her place, like that of many other women, was not in the frontier but in the barracks as a nurse.
\In the Nehru family, Kamala Nehru, the neglected wife, was trying to win her husband’s affection by joining his path of political struggle throughout her married life. Eventually, she dies in prison. With both parents in prison, little Indira was left alone in a big house. The letters were the only means of communication between the father and daughter. Likewise, the daughters of Che also got to know their father more or less through the letters.
In the play, the daughters question the fathers. At the same time, these fathers/husbands are not shown as villains, but rather as hapless victims themselves of an overwhelmingly patriarchal system. In a conversation between Nehru and Che, both leaders are found discussing the issue of caste in Indian society as well as about the nature of India’s struggle for independence as against the Cuban Revolution. Even as the leaders are engaged in deep discussion, divisive forces get working among the masses, tearing up society into warring factions.
A scene during ‘Pitha Uktha’
Set in the arena format around a centrally-placed, huge metal set that revolved on wheels, the play surged with the dynamic energy of the young actors.
No character is assigned to any particular actor. Roles are specified only for Nehru and Che, that too by different actors who assume them with symbolic props and costumes like the hat or Nehru’s cap or cigar or a rose. The women are not identified as such. It plays out rather like a chorus in action.
“The play is a visual journey through history,” says Shibu. “Created as part of academic work, it is shaped more or less by the students themselves. It’s a directorial exercise and the focus was on how to work on visual images. The students themselves selected the dialogues and created the images. Even the music and choreography evolved from the students with help from Sanal Sasheendra, a teacher of music at the Drama School.”
The set evolved from the concept of a traditional oil press (‘chakku’), driven by oxen or even by people in some countries, points out Shibu. Music, including the songs and instruments, was performed live by the actors themselves, except for a small portion of recorded music at the end.
The use of the kirtana, ‘Jatakataha sambhrama,’ interspersed with Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech to denote the Independence movement and followed by ‘Vancheesa Mangalam,’ the anthem of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore, and ‘Communist International’, all proved striking and powerful.
The play was staged at the School of Drama & Fine Arts, Thrissur.
