As we all know Antigone was one of the most controversial play of 11th Bharangam. I got a chance to communicate with the santanu sir...i thought i should share it with you...so here it is...
Anupam-
You know sir antigone was the most controversial play of Bharangam....we had presented a presentation regarding Bharngam...and Antigone was the most discussed Topic...and even i was against hen and fish killing on the stage...
Santanu sir-
oh, I never knew that! Thats interesting! What are the ither points of controversy...pls let me know....its always better to know how the play been received....the hen was only a video and the fish was already dead as we bought it. None of them had particularly killed for the play. They are just memoirs of the violence that we live with and pretend not to see it in our daily life....
Anupam-
PPL were not comfortable with the visuals itself...dey were aware of the symbolization u had done...but again its all abt breaking the theater aesthetics for them and in this part of India it wz a bit unacceptable, same thing hpnd with another play in Bharangam "HAWALAT"...where a guy was masturbating on national Flag, again idea was clear but the way was not acceptable,i thnk same kinda thing hpnd with "ACHLAYTAN",bcoz last day dat masturbating scene wz nt dere...comes bak to antigone ,some ppl cudnt figure out the kinda muzik u used,i personally njyd the experiment where u had done hamen nd antigone both...but again one gal wa saying u used Antigone as a Filler nly...and u totally deconstruct the Script...i personally loved antigone but hen killing sry not killing ,visualizing sequence wz unacceptable for me..may be i am a brahmin and pure veg dats y.....
Santanu Sir-
ok, alright, now I understand. The masturbation scene was there on the last day of Achalayatan, but the comments came to make it more elaborate, so he tried to develop and dialogues got over before he could start the process. Antigone as filler... yes and no...Generally she is always seen as a super perfect adarshbadi heroin, but in the play she is more a hot headed emotionally imbalanced woman trying to look for fame. That was quite clear in her discussion with Ismene. I only remained faithful to the script than putting my own bias to make her the ideal protagonist. The visuals of violence was there to shock people and thats why it was so slow and elaborate, it had a sensation creation purpose, so I am glad that it made people uncomfortable. I try to not entertain people but to shock them to make them think....so......great, if you remember some more comments do tell. We need to talk about theatre if we want theatre to boom.
Anupam –
ok...this was the matter behind the curtain...and i thought someone has commented on that masturbation sequence...one all time burning question was coming out after Antigone....WHY WE DO THE THEATER?.....and the most dominant answer was " TO ENTERTAIN THE AUDIENCE"...personally i don't believe in that...how would u classify entertainment..?..and for me when you said i was trying to shock the audience,it is also a kind of entertainment ,surely not conventional entertainment...if i m not wrong ANTONIN ARTAULD talks about the same..ppl were saying ki new directors are doing the experimental theater but breaking the theater aesthetics...in antigone they were not sure about "70 minute hain tumhare paas" and the” message" ring tone...i would like to ask the same thing...why we do theater
1 To entertain the audience
2 to convey directors thought or interpretation only
3 as a stress buster tool only
4 to put some issue
the most important questions coming out are "what is the role of audience...just to watch the play " or " play must be for the audience only"
and the term filler was used for the script Antigone and not for character Antigone..one Bengali girl was commenting like " U avoid the script and used the script as a filler only, and the name of the play should not be Antigone"....hahahah....khair i am not bengali so i dont know about this thing...
the conclusion is " IF THE THEATER IS TO ENTERTAIN THE AUDIENCE , WHY WE SHOULD PUT THE SHOCKING SEQUENCES WHICH MAKE AUDIENCE UNCOMFORTABLE"
Santanu Sir :-
Primarily I do theatre because I like doing it. It is like sex... doing it is sheer pleasure. You can’t change the world by doing theater or by doing anything particular, nor you can entertain everybody with one single thing. You live as human being, you remain sensitive to your near and far world, few things gets gathered in your mind, you feel angry about certain things, you feel happy about something, feel funny about other and you want them to tell. Its like going on a trek and on coming back telling your friends what all you have seen. Its sharing your life with others. Its cooking a meal together and eating it together. Its like dawat, a party, an adda, a masti. Its only a larger and a little more constructed version of what you do at the canteen...talk to people, try to understand them and try to make yourself understood. Life is small and beautiful and all its aims are small and beautiful. If some people gets entertained or a few things get changed in the process of living life, that is indeed wonderful.
Anupam –
hmmm....so the conclusion is....theater is nothing but a sharing session...and you do your work with perfection and enjoy your work completely and don't be conscious about how will they(audience) react..you serve your dish and rest is on the audience it may be salty for some one or sour or sweet for other one?
am i correct?
but i still think theater has the hidden power to change the lives and society, films has the same power too..coz i think both of them are also a part of literature...and if anything can change the world it is literature only...previously karl marx, martin luthar , sigmund freud , tagore has done that so convincingly...and my own experience says it really changes you and your thoughts...and dont you think just because of theater you are such a great mind and personality reader....
i would like to ask one more thing if you have seen la premier fois, hawalat , the painted world in Bharangam....were these plays part of theater...
Santanu Sir :-
I have not seen any of the plays that you have mentioned but I well assume they are falling beyond the box that you have put theatre in. Make the box bigger, do not be a theater fascist.
Change! Ya maybe ! I have not seen anything getting changed because of a theatre, literature or cinema. There are many many reasons, perceivable and not perceivable that eventually changes the course of history...or maybe that was the course of history. Everything participates....cant dictate.
I serve food and try to make it both tasty and healthy, but like any cuisine, some people like it, some not. I make my best effort to be likable by everybody.
Best of luck....
Regards
Anupam Sharma
SRCPA(2009 Batch)
anupamism@gmail.com
(9757423751)
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