The five plays presented by National School of Drama at Abhimanch and Bahumukh auditoriums recently showcased the works of fresh graduates. The productions displayed a bold spirit of experimentation, directorial ingenuousness and impressive acting. Barring one, all the productions appeared to be inspired by Western aesthetics and theatrical genres like postmodernism.
The opening play, ‘An Autobiography of a Devil', is a dramatisation of a Telugu novel by K.N.Y. Patanjali. Translated into Hindi by Ipshita, the stage version is written by Mahesh Ghodeswar and directed by Shiva. The highlight of the production is the way the director imparted visual dimension to the stories.
The characters in all the three stories are animals. The moral lesson with contemporary connotations was conveyed artistically. Embellished with rich production values, these stories were riveting. The connecting threads of the stories are two characters – the Devil and Gandharv. The devil is highly pleased with himself having written his autobiography and Gandharv offers a critique of his work. They indulge in heated polemics. To bring home his point, Gandharv narrates stories, underlining the need to have experience and intellect to write not only autobiography but all work of artistic creation. Since devil has neither experience nor intellect, his autobiography is half-baked.
Translated and adapted by Manwendra Kumar Tripathy into Hindi from Heiner Muller's ‘Hamletmachine', the play is directed and designed by Anjali Shinde. Heiner Muller (1929-1995) was a German dramatist, poet and director and considered as “the theatre's greatest living poet” whose contribution to post modernistic theatre has been significant.
Obsessed with the madness of Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet', he de-constructs it, projecting crises of existence of human civilisation. Hamlet is frequently haunted by the ghost of his father. We meet other characters of Shakespeare like Ophelia, Horatio, Glaudius. Interspersed with symbols, the production could be interpreted in many ways. An atmosphere of enigma prevails.
Using theatrical spaces imaginatively, director Anjali has projected collages of different hues. At times the images appear to be disconnected and ambiguous. Often the action takes place simultaneously at various levels which are stunning, provocative, erotic. In the denouement the demolition of three icons – Buddha, Marx, Gandhi of Nirvana, revolution and non-violence symbolises the death of ideology.
Cohesive manner
The stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' ‘Great Expectations', which was scripted, designed and directed by Swati Mittal, projects the main characters, their milieu and mutual interactions in a cohesive and logical manner that engages the attention of the audience from start to end. The director captures the spirit of the novel and the idiosyncrasies of its characters. The acting is impressive and the sets are admirably designed to provide appropriate ambience for the action. The closing and opening sequences with the floating of paper boat symbolises a state of innocence, apart from bringing about an artistic harmony to the production.
A play-within-a-play, Reshami Rumal opens with actors rehearsing Shakespeare's ‘Othello'. In the course of rehearsal actors' private lives create another level of conflict. The performers are rehearsing scenes of sexual jealousy and the villainous acts of procuring fraudulently handkerchief that led the brutal murder of sweet, warm-hearted and innocent Desdemona at the hands of her own husband Othello. In their personal lives actors are facing the same dilemma. Written by Rakesh Soni, it is designed and directed by Prashant Parmar with insight and technical brilliance.
The concluding piece of the Graduate Show was ‘Pedro Paramo', an adaptation of Huan Rulpho's novel, which was dramatized and directed by Firos Khan. The use of highly innovative lighting, choreography and sound effects with surrealistic treatment capture the dead and their graves with echoes of rebellion. Translated by Ritu Sharma, it is a complex theatrical piece with abstract imagery.
