Movements and institutions in Indian theatre

6 Pages·2000·1.8 MB·English

by  Basu, Dilip Kumar

Movements and Institutions in Indian Theatre
DILJPKUMAR BASU
I n this paper, Jpropose to deal mainly with the relations between movementsand
institutions inIndiantheatre,and1shallbegin withcertainclarifications,First,Iwould
liketotesttheelasticityoftermslike'movement'and'institution'.Secondly,thiswillnotbe
ahistoricalsurveyofmovementsandinstitutions,forIbelievediggingupnamesanddates
does not normally encourage debate, and is of Iittle use for the present purpose. The
emphasis of this paper, on me other hand. will beon theatre-histories of a kind wbich,
lamentably.wedonorhaveinthiscountry.
Theterm'movement". whenusedindiscussionsonculture. isdeeplyembeddedinits
origininakind ofpoliticswhich flowered inthe nineteenth century. Thisbeingso,even
whenamovementdoesnotforegrounditspoliticsandemphasizesitsformalandtechnical
aspects alone. as part of a social and artistic reality it has still to beperceived withallits
politicalimplications.Thus.forexample.anabsurdisttheatreinaspecifictimeandplacebas
tobeunderstood withitspoliticalsignifications. Therearesometimesmovementswhich
contendagainsteach other,liketheNabanatyaandGananatyamovementsinBengalduring
the late 1950sand 1960s. Aclearunderstandingoftheintricaciesoftheserelationswould
help us understandthe nature ofeach movement better,
Institutions, whenseen inrelation to movements, areoften takento bethelatter's
adversaries.thoughtheyarenotnecessarilyso.Analmostinevitablecorollaryofthistendency
istodistance one'smovement asfaraspossiblefrominstitutions.Thisposition, wherea
movementisnotwillingtodiscriminatebetweeninstitutionsandadoptappropriateattitudes
towards different institutions,seemsto metobeunhelpfulforanymovement.There are
countriesliketheUnitedKingdomwheretheatremovementsare fightingformoredemocratic
spaceforthemselves.and wherepartoftheirenergy isspentinwresting morefundsfrom
Institutionsassociatedwiththegovernment.Thus.onehastoconsidertherelationsbetween
movementsandinstitutionsintheirvariousramifications_ andIsaythisfromthevant3ge
pointofoneinvolvedinmovements,andnotasanapologistforinstitutionsoranemissary
ofanyinstitution. Amovement'sefforttodistance itselffromoneinstitutionoranotherina
particularsetofcircumstancescould bequitethe rightthingto do.Butthisshouldfollowa
carefulconsiderationofallthecomplexitiesofthesituation;blind,unthinkingrejectionmust
beavoided. Take forexample the relationbetween asocialistgovernment inaStateand
theatre movementsinthatState.Thesituationherecreatesitsownpullsandpressures.but
~~vements,inthiscontext,seldomdistancethemselvesfromgovernmentInsuturions,unless
ItISamovementoftheextremeright.
•
AIthisstage,weneed10defineafewtermsevenattheriskofsoundingbanal,somatlilY
argumentsandpositionsarecleartoall.First.adramaoratheatremovementistobeunderstood
Sa:ngt'f' NaUlt No!>. 131-138. 2000
MOVEMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS IN INDIANTHEATRE lJ
as3movementawayfrom theexistingtrendsindrama/theatre. sometimesseekingrefonn,
sometimesradicalchange,andatothertimessimplyregisteringprotest.Theremayalsobe'theatre
movements'wheretheculturalintentionremainsunclearandtheatreistreatedasameansto
someotherend. Wewouldhesitatetocallthesetheatremovements.AlotofNGOactivity,
passive.tendentiouslefttheatre.money-makingstreet-theatregroupslendingtheirservices
tothehighestbidderamongpoliticalpartiesduringelections- allthesefallintothiscategory.
Secondly,'movement'.inourgivencontext.impliesnotonlymotion,butalsothemotion
ofamotivatedgroupofpeople,howeversmallthatgroupmaybe.Wefindfromexperience
thatgenerallysuchagroupisquitesmallattheoutset- consistingmaybeoffourorthe
people.Soon the strength is at leastdoubled.Asandwhenthe movement gainsvisibility
andwinsrecognition, similareffortsaremndebyothers.(Onemayrecallwhathappenedin
thefieldofstreettheatreinourcountry.)Eventually,apointisreachedwhenthemovement
isatitsmostvigorous. creative. and (notwithstandingthe participationofmore than one
group)focused.Beyondthispointthemovementmayshrinkandgraduallydie;itmayalso
becomemoreextensive.andyetthevigourmaywaneandthefocusgetblurred. Whatwas
initiallyamovement may becomeacommonfieldwheredifferent theatregroupswork. A
grouportwo among these mayproceedindifferent directions,constituting different
movements.Theyarenowmovingawayfromtherestofthefieldandaresometimesatodds
with themainstream activity.WehaveonlytothinkofJanarn,Samudaya,Chennai Kalai
Kuzhu,etc.,and theirpositions inthefieldofstreettheatretodaytoseewhatImean.
Thisbringsustoafurtherconsiderationoftheterm 'movement'. Is,forexample,street
theatreamovement? OrisSamudayaamovement?Or.isitmorepropertoseeSamudaya.
lanamandChennaiKalaiKuzhutogetherformingamovement?(Thegroupsmentionedhere
arechosenforthepurpose oftheoreticalinquiry,andnottoemphasizethespecialqualities
ofanygroup.)Or,isitthatatsomepointoftimestreettheatrewasamovementbutISnowa
field?Wehavetodefinethetermclearlyinordertogettherightperspectiveonamovement
and to understand its relationwith othermovements. Moreover. therelation between a
group'swork.intheprosceniumtheatreandonlhestreets.donesimullaneouslyoratdifferent
pointsoftime.also needsto betakenintoaccount.
Writingplayswithacertainphilosophyofartandtheatreinmindcantriggeroffamovement.
Evenwithoutassemblingataplaceanddraftingamanifesto,dramatistsmaycreatemovements
ofsons,ashappenedduringthe1960sandearly1970swhenabsurddramawastakenupby
SOmanyofourplaywrights.Andeffortstoimproviseplayscollectively,whichbeganduring
thesameperiod shouldalsobeconsideredamovementorasetofsimultaneousmoveme~ts.
un, . ' . I ging through collective
"uenthere IS an overlap-s-as IIIthecaseof streetpays emer
C~fUllY
scriPling-the importance ofeachelementinaparticulargroup'sworkhastobe
assessed;this can best be done by investigatingintothe politicalmeaningofco .ectlve
.. . . . ' f this kindhasbeendonemour
Wntmg In each group's endeavour. No investigatIOn 0 1 f'thi
COuntrytothebestofmyknowledge.Yet,between1969and1979,awholelotofwork0 IS
kindWasstarted--Safdar Hashmi ledonesucheffort. . ' Th
" . . . alenci Farsi itsuggestsinstitutes. en
nsunrtion' is a wordwhichhasdifferent v encies. •
th ., di ment,thatsuch·and-,uchperson
erearestatements.madeeitherinadnurauonor sparage . . , th d not
ha be . I becomeInsntuuons,yet ey 0
5 comean institution. Certainly somepeope
24 D1L1P KUMARBASU
disable movementsasinstitutessometimes do.Thesepersonifiedinstitutionsare people
aroundwhomoragainstwhosepracticesmovementsspringup.EbrahimAlkazi,K.N.Panikkar,
SombhuMitra.BadalSircar-allthesenamescometomind.Evenwhenaperson'spractices
areopposed,therealobjectofchallenge,frequently,isnottheperson butinstitutionsofthe
establishmentwhichbuildupaperson asafiguretobeadmired andcopied.Inahard-hitting
articleintheDecember1999issueofEminence,M.Prabha wroteabouthowonesingle
luminaryofIndiantheatremightbeabletogethugefinancialandotherbenefitsfromvarious
institutions.Thisissomethingtothinkabout;Isuggestthatoneshouldexaminetheworkings
of institutions whichprovide funds andotherfacilities ratherthan persons whoreceive
favoursfrominstitutions.Inanycase,apersonofthiskindnonnallydoesnothavesufficient
financialresourcestoinfluencetheatremovements,thoughheorshemaybeakeytosuch
resources.
Thisbringsusbacktoaconsiderationofthefirstmeaningoflheword'institution'.Group
theatresoftennamethemselves'institutions'.'Natyasangstha','Natyapratishthan',orsimilar
wordsare frequenlly a part of their names.They have some kind ofspace 10 work and
rehearse.somefunds.andsomebasicrulesgoverningtheiractivities.\Vearenotdiscussing
institutionsofthiskind;onthecontrary.weactuallyexpectthemtoberelatedtomovements.
Forourpurpose.then.weshallconsiderthoseinstitutionsasinstitutionswhicharehoused
inbuildings ofsomesizeandhave well-equippedoffices- not withthickfilesanylonger
butcomputers. Plus, importantly. considerablefinancial resources and anaccounts
department, Wehavetoconsidertherelationoftheatremovementswiththeseinstitutions.
and nOImerelywiththetheatre wing of any ofthese institutions.
I would also like 10 include organizations which do not directly deal with theatre.ID
today'sworld,someofthesehavealottodowithhowmovementsoriginate.takeshape,find
orchangedirection,and earn recognitionandfame. Though these organizationsarenot
dramainstitutesorAkademis,theymodulatesignificantlythe realitiesofthetheatre world.
Theyareoftwokinds:firstly,organizationsliketheFordFoundation,whichmayormaynot
financeatheatreproject;and.secondly,theFourthEstate,i.e.•newspapers,journalsandlbe
audio-visual media, which may or may not offer space to a particular theatre groupor
movementintheircolumns, talkshows,cultural round-ups andinterviews.andthusmay
makeormaritsreputation.
•
Alltheseanglesneedtobeconsideredtounderstandtherelationsbetweeninstitutions
and movementsin Indian theatre.Thefunding capacity and inclinations ofSangeet Natak
AkademiinDelhiorKeralaSangeethaNatakaAkademi,andtheirpolicychangesfromtime\0
time,mayhelp Usunderstandtoadegreetheriseandfall ofcertaintheatremovements.The
National School ofDrama influences movements not so much by funding theatregroups
(thoughinvitingselectgroupstoitsfestivalsisanindirectway offunding),buthyimparting
theatr~
educationofaspecifickindandthus shapingattitudesinitspupils.andtheaudience
watchJ~g lisproduclions. Movements ofall kinds find il increasingly difficult 10 present
alternative viewpointsandperspectivesas NSD strengthens its holdonIndian theatre.The
prestige of the School makes it a heavyweight, controlling the country's idea of theatre·
MOVEMENTS AND INSTITUTIONSIN1"D1ANTIIEATRE
Thereis,further,the fact thatitcanfunditsproductionsinamannerwhichisdifficultto
match,ComparedtotheexpensiveproductionsofNSD,withtheirelaboratesetsanddazzling
costumes,mostothertheatresareperceivedaspoorshows(particularlyinDelhi)bythevast
majorityoftheaudience.Theuniversitydramadepartments.wheretheyexist.alsoworkon
similarlines,butonaverysmallscale.
Wehavetoconsiderhowachangeofpolicyorcrucialpersonnelinthelargeinstitutions
can influence rules andtrends of distributionof funds. It wouldnotbecorrecttosee
institutionsonly ascauses andmovementsaseffects. Because,firstly,movements ofthe
peopleintheultimateanalysisarefarstrongerthaninstitutions;and.secondly,movements
atsomehistoricaljuncture forcetheentry ofpersonneland adoptionofpoliciesinthese
instinnions, Majorpolitical upheavals make institutionslinstitulesreact tothem. Theatre
movements, whensuccessful,throwupimportanttheatrepersonswhomeventhegrandest
institutionscannotignore,andwhomtheyaresometimesforcedtoinviteasfunctionaries.
Thisresultsinsomekindofpolicychangeintheseinstitutions.
Atthisstage,IwouldliketorefertoafewthingsfromSafdar'sbookTheRighttoPerform.
On13October1985,hewrites:
Thewaveoftraditionalismappearstohavereachedallfourcomersofthecountry.This
isnotvery surprising,whatwith the SangeetNatak Akademi'sschemeofpromoting
traditionaltheatre goingstrong.and fundingagenciesliketheFordFoundationgiving
grams10 •..encourageinteractionbetweentraditionalandcontemporarytheatre.
On10Novemberthesameyear,SafdarlamentsthelackofqualityinNSDproductions,On
19Januarythenextyear,SafdaragaincriticizesSangeetNatakAkademi'sscheme(startedin
1984)forassistance totheatreworkers,HealsocriticizesNSD'spilotproject(1982-83)to
"studyfolk/traditionalformsindepth anddiscernvariouselementsofIndiannessinIndian
theatre".Thepointinmakingthesereferencesistoshowthaitherehave.~ways.be~no.ther
VQicesandotheropinionsregardingtheobjectivesoftheatreandtheacti~ltJe~of~nst~tuuons
limnare10beheardinthecorridorsofpower.Aclosewatchonwhatvariousmsuluu.onsmare:
doinghas 10 be the duty of movements, for therein lies thepossibilityofasserung
democraticrightsofthepeople,TheinstitutionstowatchincludeSangeetNatakAkaderni,
l~stltutlOns
NSD,Bhopal'sBharat Bhavan,foreignfundingagencies,StateAkaderrus, like
SriRamCentreandNatyaShodhSansthan.andvariousbusinesshouseswhichhavelately
shOwn anm' teresr"10 funding theatre, II mayevenbew'orthwhile.tokeepaneye.onwhat
~e
educationalinstitutions and publishing houses.Indian andforeign. are promotmg.
Cambn'dgeUniversity Pressduringthe0lastdecadehasbmughtoutbookslikeThePoli,tics
Post~colonia/
ofAlternativeTheatre in Britain andAnIntroductionto Theatre- aproject
witLhairngteer.einsstitni.tgutcioonntsraldikiectiNonSsDinnsoctriobneldyin.Iginto)re'vanousmovements m.shtheIdcobuen'ttriyll.dthaeteIir
pedagoguesand office-bearers have rued notionsaboutw""t theatre ou iety of their
th ' , d' the adequacyor plOpne
ere, IS ,no instance of a pub,lic"debate regar 109 ha kindofplayswerechosen'ror
I~ ne
Predllecllons.Thus it may bemteresung ex:mu \\0 t . li dof layswerechosen
productionwhen EbrahimAlkaziwasNSDsdirector,and"hat n P
26 PILIP KUMAR BASU
afterB.V. Karanth tookover. Neverin its history. however, have contemporary theatre
movementsinthecountry interestedtheSchool.NSDhasalways assumedthatitsalumni
werethepeoplewhowouldstarttheatre movements- theyalone weretrainedforthetask.
Someof thesepeopledid tryand experiment,and madea name forthemselves. Itisquite
anothermatterthattheseexperimentsdidnotstartanyrealmovement,thoughthedirectors
didattractfollowersandimitators.Thetroublewiththeirfine,'successful'productionswas
thatthey werestunning. butnot inspiring. A stunned mental state does not conduceto
creativity,Large,expensivelydesigned theatricalsarenotpartofanymovement- theyare
toolargeand fattomove.Theyalsodonotmoveanyone;theaudience isservedgrandeur
andnotofferedadisturbingnewexperienceorvisionoflife.
Itisnotonlylivingmovementsthatarealmostcompletely ignoredinthecurriculumor
festivalsofNSD.The arbitrarinessof'hechoiceof plays by NSD's repertory companyis
evident from 'he NSD publication Rang farra (1992), which reveals that NSD does not
bothereven about the classics of Indian theatre. There is no production of Tagore's
Raktakarabi.ofNabannaandotherplaysbyIlijonBhattacharya,oroftheplaysofKalidasa.
Thetroubleis,whenonenamesaplaywrightoratheatregrouporadirectornotyetcanonized
byinstitutionslikeNSD,one'schoiceisattributedtopersonalbias;andwhenonecriticizes
someonesanctifiedbysuchinstitutions.one'sopinionbecomespersonalprejudice.Onthe
otherhand theseinstitutions, working together, establish some 'public' opinionswhich
originateinthehighpriests'personalbiasesbutaremadetoappearasthecountry'sopinion.
Aninstitutionnaturallytakesotherinstitutionsseriously- oneamusingillustrationofthis
istheidentitiesofpeoplelikeAmalAllana,B.V.Karanth,BansiKaul, BhanuBharati,Ebrahim
Alkazi,etc.,constructedinRangYarra.Theyarcnotidentifiedhereasdirectorsordesigners
oftheirmajorproductions,butasdirectorsofX,Y,Zinstitutions,orasrecipientsoffellowships.
or aspeople whohave handledprojectsfor one orother institution.
•
Thusmovementsdonotgainvisibilityinthis largecountry.Forexample, Idonotknow
directlyofanyworkby.say,SpandanaofBangalore,ChemananiofTirunelveli,CreativeUni'
orThirdExperienceofTrichur,Andthereare bound to beothergroupsaboutwhichIhave
notevenheard- whichisnottosaytheyarenotdoing useful work.Thislackofvisibility.
whichshouldhavebeenremovedbyinstitutionslikeSangeetNatakAkademiandtheNatlonaJ
SchoolofDrama,hampersthedevelopment oftheatre all overthe country.Ihaveastrong
feelingthattheChennai-basedKalaiKuzhu(foundedinSeptember1984)couldhavebenefited
~romknowledgeofthekindofworkNatyakalofDelhi(foundedinNovember1%9)wasdoing
inthe 1971Jsand theearly 1980..Consideringthat mostmovements havelimitedlife-spans
andresources,there are big losses tobecounted offhere
Thusthereareerasuresinourtheatrehistory. and these'takemanyforms.Safdar'stragic
death was notallowed tobeerased,luckilyforIndian theatre.ButSafdarwas nottheonly
pe,,?ntopaywith hislifeforthecauseoftheatre.Theatre Unit's(Unarpara,WestBengal)
AshisChaneljeediedinpolicefiringin 1972whileperformingaplay, ProbirDutta,athea'"
actlVl":died sllnilarly inJuly 1978while watching a performance.What were Silhouene,
Pathikrit,Runner, andShongshaptakcollectivelydoingduringthisperiod?Towardstheend
~OVEMENTS AND INSTITUTIONSININDIANTHEATRE 27
of 1970,fourpeople marchedacrossWestBengal.BiharandOrissaandreachedMadhya
Pradesh.performmgaoumberofplays00theway.Theykeptchangingthelanguageoftheir
playsastheymovedfromoneregiontoanother.TheywerearrestedinBhilai,andoneofthe
performers,Shrilekha Roy. wascrippled asaresult.Whowillwritethehistoriesofthese
groups,andfinallyofthemovementsinourtheatre?
Thereare also theatre movements whicharefirmlyembeddedin theculturalpolitics
connectedwiththelanguageofaparticularregion.theprimeimpulseherebeingthedesireto
redress the marginalizedconditionof the language and the region.Aninstance of(his
phenomenonisto befoundintheManipuritheatre.Oneproblemhereistha.tinsearchof
both recognition and funds. there is whatLokendraArambam callsan"over-exudingof
culture" - ofethnicpeculiarities- whichisartisticallydisharmoniouswiththe themes.
Thishappensmainlybecauseofencouragementfromallkindsofinstitutionstodojustthis
kind ofwork.The problem is furthercompounded when. inthe absence ofgovernment
funding,peopletumtoforeignfunding.Publicfundingisbeingwithdrawnfromallspheres
oflifetodayandprivatefundingbyinstitutions.veryoftenforeign.istakingitsplace.This
needstobecountered,andthe waytocounteritis10engagewilhinstitutionslikeSangeet
NatakAkademi, the National School of Drama.and theculturaldepartmentsof State
goveroments.Verydetermioedeffortsarerequiredtoensurethatavailablepublicfundsare
dislributedmoredemocraticallythanatpresent.
Onecannotescapeanessentiallysadparadoxofoursituation.Afewpeoplestanatheatre
groupwithclearintentionsandanimplicitorexplicitmanifesto.Theaudienceacceptsthe
workproduced bythe group.andsupportsitforafairlylongperiod.Othergroupsalong
similarlinesare formed,andapowerful,visible.movementissetinmotion.(Thinkofthe
streettheatremovementafterJanamandSarnudaya.)Andthenopponunistsenterthestage.
Smugness.funds,deadwood bluntthecreativeedgeofthemovement,bynowwellknown.
Ontheotherhand,movementswhichdonotattainthesamedegreeofsuccessremaininvisible
inthepan-Indiantheatrescene.Yettherearemanysuchunknownmovements.Theyflower
forafewyearsandthendisappear,onlytheirmemorylingeringinsomeminds.Afewpeop~e
mayremembertheir work and carrytheirheritageforward.BaidyanathMukhopadhyays
Bengalitheatredictionary,publishedearlythisyear.givesussomeinformationaboutsuch
little-knownmovementsinBengalitheatre.(Thisisabookwhichdeservest?betranslated;
itcanserveasa modelforprospectivetheatrehistoriansinalllanguageregions.)
BeforeIend,Ishallbrieflytouchupononemoreissuefacingtheatremovementsinthis
. . . . s Manyreputed theatre persons
Country. Movements send outpersonnelmtc Instltutlon . .. , .
poslt1~ns
today begantheircareers withvariousmovements.Being nowin ofpo",.erIn
d'f' ' . __ hoi eswhicharesomenmesalvanance
I rerentinstitutions theyareoftenforcedtol1141LAec OIC
withtheirOwnstatedprecepts.Thechoicestheyeventuallymake- theycanbevery, very
different_ canbesignificantinonewayortheotherforcontemporarymovements. d
Allthesecomplexitieshave10bekeptinmindwhilewritingahistoryofmovements,an
. . . . . takingresearch spreadovera ong
InstItutIons in Indian theatre The workreqwres pams h k
. . I h annolongerdo cavywor on
penodoftime.Itcanprobablybetakenupbypeopewoe
Orbehind thestage.