Though not all is well with Bengali theatre, one aspect stands out as a genuine reason to be optimistic about contemporary theatre practice — the presence of a bunch of abundantly gifted young directors who often come up with stunningly impactful productions. Kanyaka, of Kolkata romRoma, is one such director — young in years, but with enough directorial acumen to stamp her distinctive presence on Bengali theatre. Her latest directorial venture (also written by her), Sawar, recently had a rousing opening attended by a capacity crowd at the Academy of Fine Arts. Speaking of crowds, it was distressing to see random members of the audience trooping in small batches till the first quarter of an hour into the play.
A moment from Sawar by Kolkata Romroma. Source: Dipankar Sen
Sawar is well-written, with Kanyaka exhibiting maturity beyond her years, not only in conceptualising the content loaded with potent advocacy of syncretism but also in finding an appropriate linguistic register — with a balanced mix of the poetic and the colloquial — to convey it. As director, she has proven her proficiency in working on a large canvas — the play runs for almost three hours, has a gallery of characters, and the set is spectacularly large. For a play of its length, it was imperative for Sawar to have enough segments of theatrical appeal to keep the audience keyed in, and Kanyaka has handled the challenge well. The pre-interval sequence of the goat resuming to feed and the child beginning to speak, and the post-interval sequence between Rahim and Radhamati in which he takes off her earrings to create a moment of subtle yet intense eroticism, are examples of fabricating stirring moments of theatre.
Satyam Bhattacharya as Rahim and Shiladitya Chatterjee as Sukhiram were the pick of the bunch of actors, while the generally dependable Turna Das (Radhamati) came across as inexplicably shrill. The child artists, as is typical with children on stage,
were endearingly expressive. Sawar has its share of shortcomings but it is a significant production of our times.
