Bengali theatre’s fondness for dramatizing the best of Bengali fiction has gained momentum. Two recent attempts at staging Rajshekhar Basu’s writings have yielded exciting, yet contrasting results. Theatre Workshop has produced Lakshmir Bahan, a straight adaptation of Basu’s story on swinging fortunes by Anil Saha. Although it remains focused on the rise and fall of Muchukunda Roy (played by a suave Ashish Mukhopadhyay), a Bengali entrepreneur who manipulated World War opportunities to gain considerable riches, it also explores the corporate underworld in pre-Independence Calcutta.
Saha’s dramatization misses Basu’s satirical digs at avarice. The director, Kamal Manna, keeps the conflict between the Bengali and Marwari communities in check. Contemporary references make fun of the prevailing political culture and lend some credibility to an otherwise uninspiring exercise. One must credit the seasoned actors of Theatre Workshop for pulling it off.
Basu’s propensity for the grotesque and the arabesque, à la Edgar Allan Poe, finds fantastic exploration in Beadon Street Subham’s Shab Charitra Kalpanik (picture), a freewheeling adaptation of his story ‘Mahesher Mahajatra’. Dramatized and directed by Anamitra Khan and enacted by an extremely gifted young team, this 110-minute-long production displayed some classic tenets of hybridization in theatre. The costumes and background score hit the bull’s eye. Khan remains faithful to the original story but maximizes its dramatic potential. A fluid scenography, supported by a light design that never failed to usher in an uncanny situation, did the rest. As the funeral procession of a mysterious college teacher trying to prove a point over his sceptical colleague marched down Beadon Street, and the elite and the subaltern joined the eerie run, the real and the imaginary coincided.
Creative use of stage props and a refusal to emulate the stereotypes underlined their efforts. The manner in which the Subham actors lorded about Minerva Theatre on the evening of December 30 and touched the audience with their infectious energy and vigorous slapstick display makes one optimistic about the future of group theatre practice in downtown Calcutta.
