Shakespearecha
(Prithvicha) Mhatara
Alias...Theatre
of conviction.
The
fundamental question is, ‘If a Tragedy, when went over the roof, becomes a
farce?’ It is said that best of the humor comes with a frill of tragedy
attached. If you are not sure while executing, you’ll go by rules. If you are sure of your
logline, you will break the rule.
Theatre
as they say, is a great leveler. It can’t be taken for granted as a performer.
Every performance demands and demands a great much of creative energy out of an
artist. If you are complacent it will not spare you and if you dare to
experiment, it is with you. Who else, is an option to break the rule, than Mac,
Makarand Deshpande?
The
occasion was to setup a cultural hub in the heart of Mumbai, Vileparle,
through ‘Madhyam’ his own beloved theatre group, where he marked
his steps, some thirty-five years back as a committed soldier of Madhyam Mumbai.
He preferred to celebrate the occasion on his birthday, with his new Marathi play, ‘Shaksperecha
Mhatara.’ Wherein he portrayed
himself, not as a soldier but the great worrier, King Lear.
Shakespearian
play, ‘King Lear’ have seen many takes on Marathi stage
over a century. The original plot of the play is so much eventful &
melodramatic that it could have easily been converted in to a farce, a genre
foreign to Marathi Theatre in those days. Instead, they picked up the Melodrama out of
it as it was essentially suitable to their then social mindset. Kusumagraj wrote the milestone of a
play ‘Natasamrat’ and even great playwright, Vijay
Tendulkar took a shot at it with his play, ‘Vitthala.’ The
tragical melodramatic elements of both plays were so heavy that it invited a
satire for sure. During eighties, playwright, P. L. Mayekar did
it in his Malavani version as ‘Pandgo illo re ba illo’. A
play that is still remembered for its apt satirical linkage with the original
and still opted for an independent plot.
So,
a tragedy, when goes over the roof may become comic and may easily be converted
in to a farce. Mac declares ‘Mhatara’ as a farcical version of a tragical melodrama, but in the absence of the eventful adoption of situations from King Lear, it remains
more of a satire. A la Pandgo, the
play remains swinging on satirical note. That is exactly what the theatre of conviction demands,
and Mac fulfills it, say brilliantly as he adopts only the premise & sparingly the plot of King Lear. For long years he has been doing Hindi theatre on the intimate stage
of Prithvi. A place where he must have learned the art of theatre of
conviction, from his mentor, no need to name, who?
Once upon a time there lived a Mhatara called, 'Prithvicha Mhatara', who lived and taught his disciples the theatre of conviction with a simple logic;
"Your Theatre with Your Conviction and Your way. And Remember there are ways and
thus there’s theatre, the life.
Mhatara begins with a prolonged classical vocal
melody of a singer, not a part of the play. Why?
Theatre of conviction.
The
King Lear enters on stage fighting out a war on field. Why?
Theatre of conviction.
The
artists deliver their lines in part verses, Why?
Theatre of conviction.
With
the same conviction, Mac the writer, enters in to the plot of King Lear and
selectively creates montages out of the original incidents. Even then the first act
lasts for well above an hour, something to do with, in the later refinement,
sure. What we have seen was a very first show.
Till now, I don’t think we have seen a storyline based entirely on King Lear. Both Natsamrat & Vitthala have had the germ and build upon the plot independently and as a satire of both, Pandgo did the same. So here 'Shakespearecha Mhatara' at least hires the premise and some elements of plot from King Lear, I believe. Then it connects the plot to a present similea and brings in the same characters with different identity, (Body language maintained) as Professor Patil. Again a brilliant idea. Even the scene of Professor Patil in Lear’s body begging on street has direct connection with the original Play. So a delicate balancing of plot adoption and free interpretation is a blend with which Mac approaches the second act. All the present-day characters are replicated from King Lear the play. So, “Me Raja aahe!” becomes “Me Head-master aahe!” and so on. Even the youngest daughter of the King is brought in as Manjusha, the Manaskanya. Through her, the writer has enabled the POV of the now absent third daughter. To culminate the Lear story, the play must go back in to history, again with the writers’ interpretation and complete the fate of the characters.
Turning
back to the performance, the play enlightens. A fearful thought mingles with
certain uneasiness that what we are laughing at, is our own destiny. Smarter deliveries
like,
“Aamhi
Rathsamraat banlo nahi.”
(I have not become a chariot king.) or
“Samrat
Lear ne Shatkanushatkanchya Mhataryanche prarabdh lihun thevle aahe.”
(King
Lear has depicted the eternal fate of all the old men coming over the centuries.)
The
thought itself Is threatening.
The
writing is smart and so are the dialogues. Nothing surprising as it has years
of passionate theatre experience behind.
Mac
as an actor, as we all knew of him, performs with ease and flair. So brilliant is
his Head Master Patil that we sometimes prefer to ignore his student, Rohit,
who is an equally brilliant actor. All the girls of King Lear look beautiful
and perform nicely. In the absence of other detailed characteristic traits, only
so much can be said about. The set is good and compact. Lights as I can say
sincerely, are not understood, but they helped the play.
Overall an amusing, different take on King Lear in todays
context, performed with own conviction.
(Picture Courtesy: R.D. Joshi &Tanay Varde.)
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