70th Death Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore
A cornucopia of Tagore plays produced this year
Producing Rabindranath Tagore’s plays are considered daunting. Even deft directors and producers often get intimidated by the bard’s works. As a result, Dhaka theatre audiences haven’t had the opportunity to witness the Nobel laureate poet’s mastery on the stage as often as they’d like. In recent times, however, several troupes have been producing Tagore’s plays or bringing adaptation’s of the bard’s works to the stage. On the occasion of Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary this year, and with financial assistance from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, fourteen troupes have produced as many Tagore plays.
Among the troupes, eleven are from Dhaka and three from outside the capital city. The plays and troupes are: “Muktadhara” (Theatre), “Noshto Neer” (Dhaka Theatre), “Nishimon Bisharjan” (Mahakal Natyasampraday), “Chitrangada” (Swapnadal), “Rother Roshi” (Natyadhara), “Kaler Jatra” (Padatik Natya Sangshad, TSC), “Muktir Upay” (Nagarik Natyangan), “Chandalika” (Desh Bangla Theatre), “Apod” (Dhaka Padatik), “Baikunther Khata” (Loko Natyadal, Banani), “Rother Roshi” (Palakar), “Raja” (Tirjak Natyadal, Chittagong), “Muktadhara” (Ganayan Natyasampraday, Chittagong) and “Debotar Grash” (Manipuri Theatre, Maulvibazar).
It is apparent that the quantity is adequate, but what about the quality of these productions?
Ramendu Majumdar, ITI worldwide president and chief of the committee that selected the fourteen troupes for the government grant from a pool of forty-nine, said that most of the productions are of a satisfactory standard considering the limited time that the troupes had. More importantly, he saw this initiative as a major boost to producing more Tagore plays.
“We don’t get to see Tagore plays in Dhaka that often. Thanks to this initiative, a good number of new productions and adaptations of Tagore plays have emerged,” said Majumdar.
“I haven’t seen all the plays, but the ones I’ve seen are all impressive,” he added.
The troupes had only two months to prepare their respective productions. They had to premiere the plays within June 15.
Whether the time limitation is to be blamed or not, some of the production did seem below par. For instance, Dhaka Theatre’s “Noshto Neer” couldn’t live up to the audience’s expectations, considering the acclaimed troupe’s reputation.
Theatre’s “Muktadhara” featured a group of young actors. The most expensive of the fourteen productions receiving the grant, had a great set and innovative costumes. Yet, apart from veterans such as Ferdausi Majumdar, the young actors failed to shine.
Desh Bangla Theatre’s “Chandalika” is another production that featured impressive set and costume. But again, performances of the actors left much to be desired. Loko Natyadal’s (Banani) “Baikunther Khata” had both average performance and set design.
Natyadhara’s “Rother Roshi” was conceptually good. It also featured up and coming performers.
According to Majumdar, “Kaler Jatra” and “Chitrangada” are enjoyable productions.
Most of the plays are conventional productions of Tagore’s works, except Mahakal’s “Nishimon Bisharjan” and Manipuri Theatre’s “Debotar Grash”. Mahakal’s play is a contemporary re-telling of the Tagore classic “Bisharjan”. Anon Zaman is the playwright of “Nishimon Bisharjan”. “Debotar Grash” has been adapted in Manipuri language, a trait of Manipuri Theatre.
Troupes from outside Dhaka are yet to stage their plays in the capital.
Majumdar informed that popular troupes such as Aranyak Natyadal, Nagarik Natyasampraday and Prachyanat submitted their proposals but failed to fulfil the regulations.
The selection committee disbursed a total sum of Tk 20 lakh among fourteen troupes. Theatre received the highest amount (Tk two lakh) for its production “Muktadhara”. Other troupes got between Tk one and a half lakh and one lakh.
“Our initial plan was to allocate the amount evenly among ten troupes. But some of the troupes asked for less than what we were offering. So, we provided funds to each troupe according to their requirements,” said Majumdar.
The committee has sent a new proposal to the Cultural Ministry to commission another 20 lakh for producing more Tagore plays, as the official celebration of the Tagore anniversary will continue till the end of this year. If the proposal is accepted, ten new troupes will get the chance to bring their productions to the stage this year — informed Majumdar.
“This time we’ll choose more troupes from outside Dhaka,” Majumdar said.
-With The Daily Star input
