Deep Thought: A scene from Measure for Measure (Picture by Subhendu Chaki)

Measure for Measure, on stage, throws up a range of possibilities concerning issues of social, political and sexual behaviour for the director. The Jadavpur University English Department troupe, in keeping with the spirit of experiment of earlier productions, plays around with casting this time by having the men play the female, and the women the male leads in the play (Gyan Manch, December 9). The swapping of roles not only gets rid of the need for realistic portrayal, but also complicates the sexual and socio-political issues at stake.

Rohini Chaki?s Claudio, in his leather jacket and slicked-back hair, comes across as a superbrat whose seduction of Juliet sets off the chain of events beginning with Angelo?s invoking the law against him. Claudio is taken away in chains while the laity of Vienna look on, trying to comprehend the diktat of the new ruler of the city. But strangely enough, the political implications of a state troubled by the rule of tyranny, so pertinent in our own time, are not played out fully. Shuktara Lal?s Duke, when he returns in the guise of a friar, remains oblivious to the power games around him, while Sreejita Deb?s Angelo does not manage to evoke the sense of authority required in an absolutist ruler. The sexual tension between Angelo and Isabella, too, fails to take off, with Angelo just about looking good for the part.

However, it?s the sub-plot characters who really steal the show. Director Ananda Lal opts for a largely uncut version of the sub-plot, giving full play to the bawdiness and sexual vigour of the so-called low-life characters, which counterpoint, as well highlight, the fake gentility of the rulers and judges. The bawdiness is stressed repeatedly through the gesticulation and body language of characters like Anoorupa Bose?s Lucio, who turns into a dreadlocked rapper. Karma Mingyur looks convincingly like a drag queen as the prostitute Mistress Overdone, while Bodhisatwa Mukherjee puts in a marvellous cameo as Mariana, Angelo?s love interest.

The ending is thought-provoking, showing the duke?s commands being drowned by the cacophony of voices around him. The subversion of authority, seen earlier in the Duke?s encounter with the prisoner Barnardine, is brought full circle here.

Shirir Niche, staged by Ensemble at the Academy of Fine Arts on December 13, presents a different facet of low life. Conceptualised and directed by Sohag Sen, the play is acted out, literally, at the base of the stairs, showing how the workers at a housing complex are caught up in the flux that follows a theft. The drama of their personal relationships and troubles are played out in the backdrop of police interrogation and being ostracised by the flat owners.

Significantly, the wealthy owners are never shown on stage, the goings-on being enacted at a higher level backstage that can be reached through the stairs, which form a stark motif against a uniformly black backdrop, but lies outside the scope of the play. Only their voices are heard offstage on the phone, while the workers are summoned upstairs only to return in various stages of despair.

The narrative becomes monotonous and repetitive after the interval, but mature acting manages to hold it together.