A Festival of Theatre
November 6, 2006 | Filed Under Point of View, Theatre & Movies | 2 Comments
Saturday 4th November saw the beginning of the Prithvi festival in Bombay this year. More than any other festival that India celebrates, this is the festival that I most await.
The festival is based on a theme and this years theme is Theatre – desh ki seva mein (Theatre in service of the nation). Before I talk about the play I saw on Saturday, I must thank Sanjana Kapoor with all my heart for working so hard every year and arranging some great performances for the people of Bombay. She takes great care of her baby – Prithvi theatre. Over the last few years she has worked hard on getting some of the finest performers from across the world to Bombay. And some of these performers themselves have dedicated their life of theatre. For someone who is awed by good performances it almost seems that Sanjana Kapoor is doing all this for my happiness, it almost feels she is in love with me.
But I do realise that there are many people like me. The festival is in a way a coming together of some of the great personalities of theatre. They probably get together and catch up on the the year gone by and their highs and lows. You also see a lot of aspiring talent in and around the place, trying to get the attention of the greats. One occasionally sees new performers some of them show great promise. There is also the elite and the intellectuals, the kinds who may shiver to death at the names of the movies like Gunda or Jaani Dushman. It’s probably blasphemous to talk about movies like that in a post about Prithvi Theatre.
But theatre, the kinds that Prithvi focuses on, may not be everyone’s cup of tea. If you appreciate good poetry and don’t mind discussing philosophy then you will surely love the fest. But then again I must say, some of the greatest poetry and philosophy comes from the common man.
I am in a state of awe throughout the fest, so you must not take my reviews as attempts to critique them. these plays can hardly be bad. You can blindly go and watch any play and not be disappointed.
Raj Rakt – http://www.prithvitheatre.org/rajrakt.htm
The play written by Tagore and directed by Habib Tanvir is well dramatized. Riddled with numerous conflicts it gives an insight on how the breaking of traditions was such an uphill task in the history of time. The issues themselves are so big that they could create a controversy even today. This play depicts that much after the homo sapien stopped evolving physically (at least in an obvious way), the evolution continues in thought. The play has some great metaphors and is a treat to the eyes.
In the play the little girl asks the king – “Itna khoon kyun?” (Why so much blood?) and then proceeds to wipe the stream of blood with her dress.
The evolution continues… we must not stop asking these questions.