As killing fields multiply around the world, Dharamvir Bharati’s Andha Yug renews itself. Considered a pioneer of new Indian drama, this 1954 play has been performed many times in Hindi-speaking regions over the last six and a half decades. Bengali proscenium theatre has had a few adaptations. Kallol Bhattacharya had directed an innovative open-air production of Andha Yug on December 5, 2016, when Ebong Amra’s black-box theatre formally opened. Bhattacharya directed it this time too, again within the black-box facility. This time, the performers were participants of the 30-day residential workshop organised by the National School of Drama in collaboration with Ebong Amra.
Bhattacharya translated Bharati’s text into Bengali, compromising on the poetic vision of the original at times. The advantage of having two good Hindi-speaking actors among the workshop participants — Satyam Pandey from Howrah, and Ayush Sharma from Alipurduar — is accommodated. Thus, this Andha Yug was a multi-lingual affair adapted mostly from Bharati’s text but with Bengali cultural aesthetics.
The 24-member team, comprising some actors recently initiated onto the stage and some reasonably experienced ones, enacted a wide variety of roles. The gush and the gore stemming from the fields of Kurukshetra were played out with less words and more action, complete with complementary visuals crafted out of actors’ bodies and eco-friendly props, including animal masks. After training under the dynamic Gunakar Dev Goswami during the workshop, the young actors displayed commendable skills as they overwhelmed the performance space. Bhattacharya’s signature compositions, alignments along the V-line ending at the backstage bamboo rostrum with steps, use of skulls, drapes and wheelchairs, and way with pyrotechnics made Andha Yug a visual spectacle.
The vocal acting was, at best, inconsistent. But the participants did well in designing a live soundscape that amplified the action. Regional flavour in music, like the chanting of verses from Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, when Krishna was all over the stage, left a lasting impact.