Wards keep the promise
ROMESH CHANDER
|
The National School of Drama students travel to Tamil Nadu and return with a fine production of "Panchali Shapatham".
|
JOB WELL DONE A scene from the play "Panchali Shapatham".
Every year the National School of Drama's second year students go for 45 days to a region rich in traditional theatre forms to undergo an intensive workshop under the guidance of an eminent guru. This time the students went to Madurai and worked withPurisai Sambandu Thambiran, an eminent scholar and practitioner of the Therukkoothu folk form of Tamil Nadu.
K.S. Rajendran, a well-known theatre director who teaches at NSD was in charge of the group in Madurai. He also directed Subrahmanya Bharati's "Panchali Shapatham", a Hindi play based on the performance text of "Draupadi Vastraapaharanam" in Therukkoothu style, that was on the boards for six shows at NSD. If one is not mistaken,it was the first time that under this project the group played in the host city andin Chennai, before returning.
Subrahmanya Bharati's "Panchali Shapatham" is based on one of the episodes in Vyasa's "Mahabharata" in which Duryodhan with Shakhuni's help and cunning, defeats Yudhishtira in a game of dice. The Pandavas lose not only their kingdom, but also their wife Panchali who is dragged to the Royal Court and an attempt is made to disrobe her; but Krishna comes to her help and saves her in his own miraculous way. Bharati's epic poem was published in two parts, first in 1912 and the second in 1924 after the poet's death. Those who have read the poem will remember that it is full of theatrical potential; action and inner emotions of the characters are "powerful and yet simple in form and style."
Larger concerns
The poem has many contemporary social and political concerns and problems. Panchali is the epitome of our motherland. She is alone in her battle because her five husbands are powerless before their destiny. Panchali also represents the Indianwomanwho even to this day is exploited and dominated by patriarchal values. Besides the social and political dimensions, Bharati's Panchali is also the epitome of Shakti, the Goddess of Power, who accomplishes the victory of truth and enlightenment over darkness and injustice.
Rajendran the director of "Therukkoothu" explains that the form is traditional to folk theatre in Tamil Nadu. Its themes are drawn from Indian mythology and epics, particularly from the "Mahabharata". What is more, it is not merely a form of theatre; it is bound with people's emotions, values, and attitudes to life, which are reflected in the many rituals that accompany it. The rituals around Koothu relate the community to the art in such a way that Koothu becomes an expression of a reality as felt and experienced by people. Some of the strong points of the presentation are the songs in Hindi composed by Ajay Kumar and the music based on the Koothu style of singing and recitation. The rendering wast beautiful and the audience appreciation tremendous. The physical activity of the actors was in sync with the energetic music and held the audience spellbound. What is more, the director strictly followed what Bharati had written in his introduction to "Panchali Shapatham" that he had "rendered the epic poem in the common man's language and set it to an appealing tune".
Over the years, one has seen scores of student presentations and this critic has no hesitation in saying that this was one of the best presentations by second year students.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
