“Ashchorjyo Basanto”, presented by Aamra Kajon at New Delhi’s India International Centre recently under the auspices of Impresario India, grapples with the ethical, social and legal aspects of human cloning. Presented as a part of the Festival of Bengali Short Plays, it is written by Anup Chakraborty and is remarkable for sustaining the element of suspense until the denouement and its tight dramatic structure.
Directed by Rabishankar Kar, the play opens on a serious note. We meet the character of Dr. Anish Ray, who is reflecting in ominous silence and is forced to confront an emotionally agitated and mentally disturbed, haggard old man being controlled by an attendant. The old man keeps on shouting, trying to reveal the mystery about the kind of research Dr. Ray is doing. To silence him Dr. Ray injects him with a medicine that renders him unconscious. The attendant takes him to another room. All alone, Dr. Ray paces worriedly. The atmosphere becomes all the more ominous. He persistently looks at a portrait of a beautiful young woman.
A character claiming to be a journalist wishes to interview Dr. Rumiya Ghosh who is coming to meet her mentor and guide, Dr. Ray. She has come to the attention of scientists all over the world after her breakthrough research in the field of embryology.
Some minor characters join the action, adding mysterious elements about Dr. Ray’s research project. Finally, Dr. Rumiya Ghosh, a beautiful young scientist full of hope and life, enters. There is an aura of victory and jubilation about her persona. Dr. Ray brightens up. Now the narrative takes a startling turn, revealing what Dr. Ray is experimenting with, blatantly violating ethical and legal norms.
The play is imaginatively directed. It is neat, and its action logically moves towards a gripping climax. Director Kar has aptly used offstage music to create the right ambience and enhance emotional impact. However, the way a bench is placed downstage strikes a discordant note. It is used only once briefly by the main character and serves hardly any purpose.
Kabir Sen as Dr. Anish Ray creates a convincing portrait of his complex character, arrogant, cruel, selfish and with no moral qualms in pursuing a dangerous research project. Another performance of quality comes from Rabishankar Kar who acts as an intelligence officer. Mohana Basu as Dr. Rumiya Ghosh gives a sensitive performance. Basu’s soliloquy towards the end is poignant and disturbing. Ranjan Basu as Dr. Atish Ray, the father of Anish Ray, appears briefly a few times and intensifies the inner dramatic conflict of the characters.
Desolate landscapeInspired by “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett, the play “Ishwaker Aashaaye” also featured at the festival. The Bengali version is written by Harihar Bhattacharya who has omitted the most vital philosophical elements inherent in the original to reduce the playing time. The original version was first performed in Paris in 1953. It was soon declared a masterpiece of the Theatre of the Absurd and a serious comment on the existential absurdity of the human situation.
Set in a desolate landscape, the focus is on two tramps who talk in an abstract way near a tree with leafless branches. They are waiting for someone to redeem them from their miserable existence. A boy appears claiming to be a messenger of that mysterious force, an illusory force to bring new hope. A domineering, cruel and snobbish master appears, commanding his servant.
An elusive tragic farce, the interactions of the two tramps with the odd servant of the domineering master bring some amusing moments to the audience. Subtle lighting effects to illuminate the gloomy facial expression of the tramps and a mournful musical rhythm from backstage could have projected the perpetually hopeless world of these tramps and their utter disillusionment with Godot who never visits them.
