Kahani Ka Rang Manch as practiced by Devendra Raj Ankur, former director of the National School of Drama, provides enough room for actors to improvise and evolve their acting style. But the actor has to follow the literary text as the performance text. In Ankur’s theatre there is no place for using the device of adaptation and creating the character of a sutradhar-narrator. It emphasises the interpretation of the story through visuals. The action flows on a bare stage with no properties. The actor steps out of the character frequently to act as a commentator. All these features were discernible in the production of three short stories — “Paksh”, “Abhibhawak” and “Aaj Ki Taareekh Mein” — presented by Sambhav at Sammukh Theatre of the National School of Drama this past week under the direction of Ankur. Probably for the first time since Ankur engaged in the creation of a new theatre idiom he has used a ladder as a property in variety of situations and to suggest locales.
All three stories are by Ramesh Chandra Shah, a recipient of the Vyas Samman, Rashtriya Maithili Sharan Samman and Shikhar Samman besides the Padma Shri. A multi-faceted writer-a poet, fiction writer and literary critic, Shah was born in Almora, Uttarakhand in 1937. The three stories have been selected by Ankur from Shah’s collection “Meri Priy Kahaniyan”. Two other stories by the same author, “Ram Sharan Babu” and “Mujhe Achchhi Tarah Dekh”, have been staged by Ankur earlier.
The evening opened with the staging of “Paksh”. The story features two characters, husband and wife. Through their conversations it is established that they belong to the lower middle class, struggling hard to eke out a livelihood. The wife leads a dreary life and suffers silently. Owing to economic hardship, the husband is bitter. He is cold and indifferent to his wife. The wife only once opens her mouth against her husband to expose his selfish character. Sitting on the roof of the house the husband often indulges in nostalgic memories of his mother. They seem to be trapped in a world devoid of happiness and hope. Amit Saxena as the husband brings to the fore the discontent of his character. Durga Sharma creates a sensitive portrait of a wife condemned to lead a loveless life suffering from privations. She imparts a touching sadness to her portrayal. As she waves her dupatta, she creates a variety of pattern in the air that enriches the production visually. The movements of these two performers are marked by a variety of styles ranging from realistic to highly stylised to express the ebb and flow of the characters’ troubled hearts.
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This was followed by “Abhibhawak” which deals with the timidity of a father who cannot stand up for his principles. He is critical of the prevailing system of education in the schools, sharing his thoughts with his school-going son. But he never dares to interact with his teachers to point out the faults of the system. Once he exposes the mistake of the teacher through his son, an angry school management victimises the son. Suman Vaidya as the father lacking courage to confront the school management, Tripti Jauhari as the confused mother and Prakash Jha as the harassed son give credible performances.
The concluding piece of the evening was “Aaj Ki Taareekh Mein” which depicts the confrontation between a father and his son on ethical values in social life. The dominant tone of the production is one of bitterness, anguish and protest against the opportunism of the father. A young, angry man, the son brazenly exposes the moral hypocrisy of the older generation. In a moment of angry protest, the son exposes his father, reminding him of the moral principles he used to preach in his early life. With a view to climb up the social and economic ladder, the father shows no qualms in forgetting his idealistic past. The director cast two actors in the role of the father to project the interactions of the son with his father as well as with his father’s alter ego. Sangeet Natak Akademi award winning actor Amitabh Srivastava and senior actor Suman Vaidya in the role of the father and his alter ego and Tripti Jauhari as the mother bring their characters to life, engaging the attention of the audience. Amit Saxena as the angry son forcefully expresses his angst. He mocks at his father for his pretence of being a simple and honest man from the hills and his love for the most popular Kumaoni folk song “Bedu Pako Barah Masa”. But Amit’s character has no ideological vision of his own.