Partap Sehgal’s eminence as one of the leading Hindi playwrights of our time was reinforced at Jashn-e-Azhar, Little Thespian’s 14th National Theatre Festival. Held at Gyan Manch, the festival hosted a retrospective of sorts of Sehgal’s plays by showcasing as many as eight full-length productions from different regions of Hindi-speaking India. Sehgal, who turns 80 next month, sat through the shows, took to the stage after each performance, and recollected events and anecdotes related to the plays, adding an authoritative touch to this otherwise unique festival.
Little Thespian set the ball rolling by premiering Andhere Mein on the inaugural evening. Santiniketan-based Sehar presented Koi Aur Rasta. Santoshpur Anuchintan staged Bachche Bade Ho Rahe Hain, which takes off from Sehgal’s eponymous poem. Unicorn Actors Studio and Anuragna Theatre Group came calling from Delhi to stage Antaral and Teen Gumshuda Log, respectively. Set in contemporary times, all five plays displayed Sehgal’s versatility as a writer and his felicity in adapting everyday situations and problems, be it real or metaphysical. However, Sehgal’s brilliance in appropriating chapters from history — ancient, medieval or modern — stands out. His penchant for picking heroes without resorting to hero worship leaves a strong impression.
Among his signature plays, Anveshak, presented by Dastaan Theatre Studio, Gwalior, finds Aryabhata, the young astronomer, facing obstacles laid out by superstitious and religious bigots. Sehgal’s mastery in pitting the scientific mind against irrationality and an indecisive State machinery finds effective correlatives in the world we live in. The veteran, Ayaz Khan, directs a young ensemble sans frills and thrills, but succeeds in hitting the nail on the head.
A moment from Rang Basanti by Manch Rang Manch. Source: Anshuman Bhowmick
With all the shows scheduled in the morning and early afternoon, this reviewer found it difficult to make it to all of them. He rues missing Ramanujan (Kamla Shankar Dhanwanti Foundation, Delhi) directed by Himanshu Himaniya. While Sehgal built on scanty resources in Anveshak, his biodrama on Srinivasa Ramanujan was reported to have gone deeper into the assessment of the social and the cultural challenges that the 20th-century mathematical genius negotiated.
Cultural encounters also formed the basis of Bulle Shah (picture, top), presented by the Delhi-based Samukha. Sehgal concentrated on the journeys undertaken by the 18th-century philosopher-composer (played sensitively by Narendra Kumar), his struggles to get rid of caste prejudices, his artistic collaborations and his confrontation with militant Sikhs — all leading to a sense of liberation. Arvind Singh, the director, mounts the scenes meticulously even as Himaniya’s music lends an air of authenticity.
The musicality reaches its height with Rang Basanti (picture, bottom), the finale, presented by Manch Rang Manch, Amritsar. Directed by Kewal Dhaliwal, this otherwise predictable biodrama of Bhagat Singh was pepped up significantly by a supremely talented Kushagra Kalia who, sitting with a harmonium at the base of the proscenium, belted out songs one after the other whenever the situation demanded. While most of the productions in this festival lacked seasoned actors, Rang Basanti was bolstered by two generations of trained thespians rooted in Punjab, all delivering their lines in Urdu, Punjabi and sometimes breaking into English effortlessly. Dhaliwal’s expertise in handling tense moments in a wide variety of drama (this reviewer has fond memories of his brilliant adaptation of a Balwant Gargi play at Gaiety Theatre, Shimla, in the winter of 2018) makes this a pulsating watch as well.
