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Director Parakrama Niriella talks about the significance of Habib Tanvir’s “Charandas Chor”
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FROM MY NEIGHBOUR Parakrama Niriella’s version of Habib Tanvir’s “Charandas Chor” staged at Bharat Rang Mahotsav.
“Charandas Chor” by Habib Tanvir, is one of India’s most beloved plays on the triumph of truth. But an excellent Sri Lankan production of it at the ongoing 10th Bharat Rang Mahotsav is of special significance. It is through the play that the antagonistic factions of Sinhala and Tamils come together.
Director Parakrama Niriella of Sri Lanka is the Co-Founder and Artistic and Administrative Director, Jana Karaliya, a mobile theatre group. He says, “We wanted to use theatre as a tool for interaction between the two communities.” One of the first mobile theatre groups of Sri Lanka, the play travels from village to village and is performed in every available space. They also carry a mobile arena theatre with a seating capacity of 500 adults or 800 children. The group comprises Tamil and Sinhala youth from non-urban areas who are given training for four months.
Niriella explains the significance, “With the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka, the Tamils and Sinhala are separated. Each group only performs for its own community.” This production erases difference as it is performed in both languages. Also Sri Lankan audiences watching the play understand that actors of both communities are present, through the dialogues.
The play while being a commentary on the current socio-political situation in Sri Lanka, is also a tribute to Habib Tanvir. The play appealed to Niriella thematically because it deals with corruption and in-fighting.
Rendezvous with the legend
Niriella recounts that he first met Tanvir in 1978. This was a time when directors and actors in Sri Lanka were trying to move theatre out of the conventional proscenium. Tanvir saw a play of Niriella in Sri Lanka and selected him for a workshop in Raipur. Here he saw “Agra Bazar”, “Charandas Chor” and “Mitti Ki Gadi” of the Naya Theatre movement. Even though he couldn’t understand the language, Niriella was impressed by “Charandas Chor”. In it he saw the scope for outdoor and spontaneous stages. “This play could be taken out of the proscenium. People could sit all around and watch it.”
While Niriella and his group have travelled with their plays, he reveals, “In Sri Lanka there is only one theatre. The others are all assembly halls.” While there is no support from the government, he says that drama departments have come up in two universities. “The graduates of these departments and from the ‘Tower Hall Foundation,’ will do something,” he asserts. The present odds might be against theatre in Sri Lanka but Niriella is clearly optimistic about the future.
NANDINI NAIR
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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