Bhubaneswar, Feb. 13: The audience at Rabindra Mandap was quiet and evidently moved last evening when a character in the Polish play Sonka gave up her resistance before being raped by posing nude.
Today, some sections of people criticised the play and indulged in vandalism in the city to register their protest against the "vulgarity" on stage.
For a few seconds of nudity in an extremely sensitive scene, debates began on social media and soon on television on how the troupe was permitted to stage such a "vulgar" scene live in an auditorium in Bhubaneswar. A handful of women also tore the poster of the festival - Bharat Rang Mahotsav organised by the National School of Drama - of which the play was a part. All this despite the play and the actor concerned being applauded by the houseful audience at Rabindra Mandap the previous evening.
The acclaimed theatre troupe Teatr Dramatczny from Poland staged the war romance, directed by Agnieszka Korytkowska-Mazur, which depicts the atrocities on women during the Nazi era. With abuse becoming commonplace in the regime, the play showed how Polish women realised the futility of resisting. In a poignant scene, a female character was seen not resisting any more but rather quietly submitting to the abuse by dropping her clothes. Despite the language barrier, the audience appreciated the play.
People condemning it, however, said that nudity had no place in theatre.
"We will ask the National School of Drama to send us a report on why they selected this play for Bhubaneswar whereas the scene goes against the Odia culture. Such obscenity cannot be permitted," said culture minister Ashok Panda.
"The artistes should not have taken to nudity . If they needed to express something, they could have used a symbolic expression," he said.
"We were not informed about the theme and content of the play . The scene could have been avoided," said Dhira Mallick, secretary of the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi that had facilitated the festival here.
School alumnus and veteran actor Bijay Mohanty, too, said the scene could have been avoided, though he added that the play was indeed very good.
"It is a famous troupe and they might have followed international contemporary style of expressions. But, some people have condemned it here. All this could have been avoided," he said.
On the other hand, many viewers and theatre personalities did not find any vulgarity in the scene. "There was absolutely no sensuous or vulgar expression in the moment. Rather, it helped the viewer realise the pain and suffering of women in the Nazi regime," said Prabhudatta Das, a viewer.
Another school alumnus Surya Mohanty, also a theatre personality, said the best part about the entire issue was that the audience appreciated the play.
"A play lives only during the time it is staged. Who cares what happens after that? When the actor was on stage, the viewers were stunned to silence. It just shows that the troupe and the actor were efficient. If anyone raises the question of vulgarity in this, they should be ashamed, because there cannot be anything more beautiful beyond the sculptures of Konark despite their sensuousness and nudity. Do they find that vulgar too? When it comes to theatre, Poland is going places and they are very aware of social and cultural issues. It was good that the National School of Drama selected the play for Bhubaneswar," he said.
The troupe left the city this morning for Delhi where they will perform the same play on February 15. The festival director of the event, Suresh Bharadwaj, said they had viewed the play and found the very short nude scene extremely relevant in its context and hence chose to stage it.
