BY RUKMINI SARKAR
KOLKATA, 16 MAY 2023:
Dakghar, or the Post Office is a Bengali play penned by Shri Rabindranath
Tagore, the first Asian Nobel Laureate for Literature, in the year 1912. Its
dramatised version was staged in Calcutta [Kolkata] in 1917.
The protagonist of the play is ‘Amal’, a young boy struck with an incurable
disease, and confined to a small room. Amal seeks freedom, not only from
the confines of his room, but also from the shackles of pain that his life now
symbolises. The play embodies the human soul’s eternal yearning to be free
from its mortal form, and be one with its Maker, with Eternity, and the beauty
of the world beyond.
Call of the Open Road-
A documentary on 100 years of the play Dakghar/Post Office by
Rabindranath Tagore, was curated by Robeen Ghose & Associates Pvt. Ltd.
The main purpose of this documentary was to visually archive the
background behind writing of this unique play by Tagore, and to critically
assess the content, structure, stylization and unique appeal to a global
audience.
The Treatment-
The documentary has been structured to convey the diverse elements of the
play. It examines in-depth the vision and innovative treatment of the play by
an array of renowned Indian theatre directors, as well as doyens of the
International Theatre circuit.
It encapsulates and highlights the historical perspective of the play, and
focuses on how theatre lovers worldwide have presented the play by the use
of fresh concepts, and new-age stagecraft.
Research-
Extensive footage and in-depth interviews have been used to generate
interest, and create an impact amongst the viewers.
Interviews have been conducted with well known academics like Prof.
Somendranath Bandopadhyay, Ex. Professor, Visva Bharati University, Dr.
Pabitra Sarkar, Ex. Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University, Dr. Tapati
Mukhopadhyay, Director, Rabindra Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, Supriyo
Tagore from Santiniketan.
Interviews have also been conducted with eminent theatre personalities
from well-known Theatre Groups like Tarun Pradhan, Manish Mitra, Kaushik
Sen, Sunil Das to understand their views on the play.
International perspective
W.B. Yeats, the Irish poet and dramatist wrote the preface to this play and
the play was staged for the first time in London in 1913 by the Irish Theatre.
Dakghar also had a successful run in Germany, was translated into French by
Andre Gide and was broadcast on the radio on the Night before Paris fell to
the Nazis.
Later, a Polish version was performed in the Warsaw ghetto under the
supervision of Janusz Korczak. Wolfram Mehring, the well known theatre
director also staged the play in Switzerland.
Experimental Form-
One of the most popular plays staged in India, Dakghar has also seen
experimental versions of the play as presented in a non-verbal form by
Heisnam Kanaiyalal of Manipur, and another by Dr Sunil Das of Kolkata in
collaboration with Wolfram Mehring, the well known German director who
emphasised on the existential relevance in the play.
Offerings-
The documentary is of immense value, and a must-see for students of art,
literature and culture.
It also attempts to provide the students a space to understand Tagore’s
mastery in creating a universal play with distinct flavour and style.
The documentary would be of great use to the school and college students as
also to theatre groups to help them learn how different directors have
created innovative forms to present the play using folk forms, to modern
styles to depict the classic play.
( RUKMINI SARKAR, THE AUTHOR IS A MEDIA EXECUTIVE)
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