Tritiyo Sutra members rehearse for Raktakarabi. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Tagore?s Raktakarabi is in for yet another theatrical interpretation, one that claims to carry forward the process of liberation begun by the likes of Sambhu Mitra and Badal Sircar. On a day when Herbert was being screened at the Osian film festival in Delhi, Suman Mukhopadhyay was at the Kashi Viswanath Mancha in Maniktala, directing his group Trityo Sutra?s latest production Raktakarabi.

The play is slated to open on August 5 as part of the Tagore theatre festival to be hosted at Rabindra Sadan by Happenings, backed by the state department of cultural affairs and some corporate houses, from August 3-6.

?Raktakarabi has always been my favourite play. In fact, I had made an attempt back in 2004 but gave it up because we couldn?t afford it. This time we were luckier,? says Suman, the man behind Kangal Malshat, Teestaparer Brittanto, Mephisto and more.

Raktakarbi?s ?eternal picture of power? is what drew him; ?the way power relates to society and the individual?.

Tagore, feels Suman, has never been addressed with the kind of open mind that is needed. ?If you look at the playwright as your god you can?t work with him; he should be your friend. There is the misconception that Tagore?s plays are too verbose and they lack dramatic elements. Shakespeare is verbose too and for a long time remained equally unexplored. But since World War II look how they have liberated the text and given it a new life. Tagore too should be liberated from all the ?rules? and ?conventions? governing acting, presentation and even pronunciation. Sambhu Mitra showed us the way, but that was 50 years ago. The world has changed so much in the last decade. From two blocs we have an entirely new face of power. Power today may be sitting next to you, unlike Tagore?s Raja who always maintains a distance. Its visibility has increased and so has its reach. Today power can reach inside the human brain.?

Talking of Sambhu Mitra, Suman is not apprehensive about his Raktakarabi being compared to the maestro?s landmark play. ?I am not afraid because I have never seen that production; I have read about it and listened to audio tapes, but I was too young when it was being staged.?

In approaching the text, Suman was guided by what he believed the audience would or would not relate to. ?I edited the text, trimming elaborate poetic passages and changing some linguistic turns (which today?s youth would find alien). My aim at all times was to touch all levels of the audience,?

Falguni, which Suman had staged earlier, was a sort of ?litmus test? for his treatment of Tagore. The presentation, though only of the shuchona (introduction) had been dealt with in a novel way, ?with new set design and contemporary touches like the Rajudyan becoming a children?s playground?. The response was good enough to embolden exploration.

The success of this latest Raktakarbi will depend largely on the talent of the actors and training, since it also demands the skills of music, dance and body movement. Nandini as the subversion that creates disorder is Suman?s favourite, along with Bishu Pagal but he keeps his Raja behind screen and adds two new characters, that of Raktakarbi (?a physical extension of Nandini?s mindscape?) and Ranjan.

From Rabindra Sadan, Raktakarabi will move to Prithvi Theatre in November and then to the Rangshankara Festival in Bangalore.