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Telling talesA scene from the play “Baghdad Burning”.

This year being the Golden Jubilee of the National School of Drama, it was appropriate that the 10th Bharat Rangmahotsav should kick off with a salute to its alumni. The selection process was complicated and time consuming. All the alumni, including those from Mauritius, Bangladesh and Nepal, were invited and asked to send a video along with its script for viewing by a specially constituted committee if they wished to participate in the festival.

The response from the alumni was tremendous and the final selection of about 60 directors was a beautiful palette of different styles, forms and subjects. Whereas the presentations in the invited category were good and some excellent, there were one or two presentations that should have never been there. The real surprise were some of the plays from the North Eastern states like Assam and more so Manipur that had at least four-five plays presented by young directors mostly in their early 40s that set a new trend. By and large the palette of the specially invited plays was colourful and amongst them three or four new presentations like “Dear Bapu” directed by Mohan Maharishi and “Stay Yet A While” directed by M.K. Raina set a new trend in biographical plays, and of course Amal Allana’s “Nati Binodini” was in a class by itself. Special mention must be made of “Baghdad Burning” presented by Aaranjan, a Delhi based theatre group, directed and designed by Kirti Jain and scripted by Supriya Shukla.

The play is based on the Internet blog of the same title posted on the web in the year 2003 onwards by an Iraqi who prefers to remain anonymous, calling herself Riverbend.

As the title suggests the entries talk about the United States’ occupation of Iraq and the lifestyle of the people and the secular and the modern fabric of its society. One feels “Bagdad Burning” is one of the most relevant presentations that expose the American lies in a dramatic way that underlines the horror let loose by the U.S. After seeing the play one realises how humour can be an effective weapon against lies. Kirti Jain, the director creates the scenes from what the blogs say on the Internet; as for instance by making a game of identifying the fighter planes etc.

In fact every blog becomes a scene from daily life. Like the scene when Riverbend and her cousins have come back from shopping for children or when the issue of children’s safety or girl’s education are discussed. An innovative production that brings home to us the real situation in Baghdad today.

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