Politics on stage

KOLKATA: 'Khomota hoitase khomota. Se tomare marboi abar ei maronta-re justify-o korbo'... (Power is power. It will kill you and justify it, too)
- Debabrata Biswas in conversation with Ritwik Ghatak in Bratya Basu's 'Ruddhasangeet'
When Debshankar Halder recalls the above dialogue that he had said while playing George Biswas (Debabrata), he is, in essence, articulating the dynamics of power.It kills people and also justifies the act of massacre. In this justification, or perhaps absence of it, lies the grey area that has often been explored by political theatre in Bengal.
However, the shift in power in the government has raised a very pertinent question. Will those actively interested in Bengali political theatre have to press the pause button for a while before they start questioning the system again? What happens to those theatre activists who were once critics of the system and have now become an active part or, at least, sympathizers of the ruling party? Can their commitment towards the art prevent them from silencing themselves?
Says Bratya Basu, "For the next five-six years, I will not stage any political play. People might feel the loss to theatre. But amar ete kichhu jae ashe na."
If Bratya has made a candid confession of his decision to abstain from directing any plays questioning power and how it corrupts, director Suman Mukhopadhyay feels it's too early to be questioning the present system. "All my plays, including 'Tistaparer Brittanto' (2001), 'Mephisto' (2004), 'Raktakarabi' (2007), 'Kangal Malsat' (2008) and 'Bisarjan' (2010), have been political in nature. I am a theatre artist. My responsibility is to respond to the society.
If there is anything that irks me, I will not hesitate to speak out. But I will not rush into anything. True, the way things were handled about the staging of my 'King Lear' (starring Soumitra Chatterjee) was not what I had expected. I was told that the high production cost was the reason for shows being halted. But I feel it's not the complete truth. If this issue was not resolved, who knows I, too, might have used theatre itself to give vent to my pent-up thoughts," Mukhopadhyay says.
Debesh Chattopadhyay, who has directed pathbreaking plays such as 'Winkle Twinkle', 'Fyataru' and 'Fandigram' too believes that it's a tad too early to think of doing theatre that questions the current government. "Though I have no political stamp, we need to give the ruling party the required time to settle down and bring about a change.
There is bound to be a void for some time before we get to watch plays examining the current system," Chattopadhyay insists.
However, Kaushik Sen doesn't agree with the logic of having to wait for the time to be ripe to register any form of protest.
"It's a fact that the section of theatre personalities who are close to Trinamool will now claim that nothing really serious has happened in the recent past that should put the ruling party under the scanner. But, I feel we have already started seeing some signs. The Left Front has announced figures of how many people have died during the change of guard.
Mamata Banerjee has said that the figures are fudged. It's true that the changeover could have seen many more deaths and that has been avoided because of the efficiency of the government. But the fact is that even if the number of people who have died in the clashes is few, those who claim to be intellectuals should still keep a track of them," Sen says.
That's precisely why Sen's latest production, 'Sei Sumouli', is set on the night of May 13 when the power shift happened in the state. A theatre personality, on the condition of anonymity, described this play as a superficial attempt to oversimplify things that can at best be described as an example of Sen's "obsession with criticizing the present government", but others have appreciated the manner in which the director has juxtaposed the story of a woman's suicide with the current political scenario.
"I have been a part of the citizens' movement. Yet, I am a Leftist. The CPM is no longer in power in Bengal. Today, there is a wrong interpretation being given to Left wing politics in Bengal. It is either tagged with the Maoists or associated with those who have been taking favours after having participated in the democratic process. This really hurt many who had long associations with true Left ideology," Sen says, adding, "Sumouli, the woman who commits suicide in my play, is very symbolic.
While she is being cremated, her husband and partner engage in a dialogue to decide who she has wronged more, who was closer to her and why she committed suicide. Both these self-obsessed people indulge in a blame game. In the context of contemporary Bengal's political scenario, it's a fact that many CPM workers are being brutally assaulted in the villages. Our chief minister may or may not admit to it but this is a reality. Ultimately, no one cares for the dead and what happens is just a blame game."
However, Sen's process of examination of power in his play has also come under the scanner with many questioning "how he, being a Leftist, turned into a champion of neutrality and became a critic of the Trinamool".
Bibhas Chakraborty, who has done many a pioneering work in Bengali theatre, says it's childish to think of criticizing the system only for the heck of it. "I started my directorial career by staging a political play, 'Rajraktro', in 1971. The next year, I staged 'Chakbhanga Modhu' and in 1974 'Narak Guljar'. I have done many other plays since. Unlike some others, I have no compulsions to prove my Leftist identity or the opposite. Hence, if I need, I will voice my opinions on stage," Chakraborty says.
Chandan Sen, whose latest production 'Lal Sobuj' is a black comedy that explores the socio-political situation and how dangerous is the phenomenon of political intervention in our personal lives, says: "The play is about a man who goes to court to file a case against all political parties. He claims to have lost his normal eyesight because of their intrusions and the way they want to control every sphere of his life! Now he can see only two colours - red (lal) and green (sobuj).
But the court's verdict makes it compulsory for him to wear a blue spectacle. So, will he accept that verdict? I plan to stage 'Julius Caesar' next. Of course, power trips will be discussed in this play besides an interesting inclusion of the three witches of 'Macbeth' in the same play. Even if I don't take Mamata Banerjee's name in the play, it will always be very clear that I am directing my barbs at her."
But before Mamata Banerjee braces for a war on stage, there's another play waiting in the wings. Actor Debshankar Halder strongly believes that just as in Nature, theatre too has no space for voids.
"A new order will begin and either freshers will pen plays or there will be someone who will again write political plays after a long spell of hibernation. In the past, I had participated in plays that were strongly critical of the ruling forces. I did 'Sesh Sakshatkar' in 1989 with Nandikar that raised serious questions about the true needs of people as opposed to the claims made by parties. When I did 'Winkle Twinkle' in 2002, I thought my participation was the right thing to do at that time. Then in 2006-2007, I did Anirban Bhattacharjee's 'Aguner Bornomala'. In 2009, I did 'Ruddhasangeet'. On September 17, I will be staging Debasish Majumder's 'Dahananta' that explores the recent trend of politics over deadbodies that parties have been indulging in. In this play too, we have either directly taken names of political parties or used references to Right wing or Left wing parties. It is a fact that theatre leaves no space for voids. Perhaps, it will take some time but I am sure that even if some old voices are silenced, newer ones will rise," Halder says.
The stage is set. The coming years can say how strong are the voices that are waiting to explode from the wings.