Calcutta is never tired of Waiting for Godot. There have been quite a few Bengali adaptations of this Samuel Beckett classic since the 1970s. While most played it straight, some went for adaptations. Ashani Natyam’s Ei Juto Sei Pa — a subaltern take on this seemingly absurd play — is still part of the group’s repertoire. Ganakrishti is the latest to join the fray. They premiered Tar Pratikshay at the Academy of Fine Arts auditorium on November 7.
Adapted and directed by Amitava Dutta, Tar Pratikshay — as the title suggests — gets rid of obvious Christian connotations. Beckett’s trumps, Estragon and Vladimir, become Oga (Swarnendu Sen) and Boga (Sukanta Sil) — both commonplace Bengali names among the socially marginalized. As they wait for Bhoga — a corruption of ‘bhogoban’ and also suggestive of a trickster — at the crossroads and keep reflecting on a meaningless life spent on the roads, they come across Lokka (Raju Das) and Podu (Dipak Das) — another pair with a power equation between them. Dutta, with his flair for words, could have explored the language of the margins. He, however, keeps it simple, flirts with social norms and keeps the comic elements under check. Dutta’s political insight comes forth in Lokka’s seemingly absurd soliloquy that Raju Das delivers with the intensity of a dormant volcano erupting all of a sudden. Dipak Das also impresses. One expects more athleticism and dynamism from the lead duo though. Tar Pratikshay rests unsteadily on their shoulders.
Tapas Mill’s set design follows the original. The veteran, Goutam Ghosh, keeps the soundtrack closer to Europe and makes abundant use of metallic noise to underline Lokka’s dressing up as an industrial labourer. With a running time of two hours and 15 minutes, including an interval, Tar Pratikshay needs some trimming. As the audience maintains social distancing norms inside the auditorium, and the front row is particularly requested to put their masks on, the ‘new normal’ theatre reality makes this experience all the more intriguing.
With Theatre Workshop being all set to produce Ashok Mukhopadhyay’s adaptation of the same work, the Waiting for Godot season is poised to get more exciting.
