A brief history of Bengali theatrics
People tend to think of theatre as a grand spectacle for the rich and the elite and theatre acting has always been considered the purest form of acting. World theatre day falls on March 27. This day celebrates the importance of theatre and encompasses how it has significantly influenced popular culture.
Now, a brief history of World Theatre day. The International Theatre Institute started World Theatre Day in 1961 to value and importance of theatre to celebrate. The day was first celebrated on March 27, 1962, and since then, every year on that particular date, World Theatre Day is celebrated on a global scale.
This blog will primarily focus on Indian theatre, specifically Bengali theatre in the late 19th and early 20th century. But first, a brief history of Bengal.
As the East India Company perpetrated atrocities in India from 1757 to 1857, that paved the way for the Crown to assume direct control of India. Thus, European culture and education influenced the elites of Bengal in a multitude of ways. Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt experimented with European dramaturgy and started writing burlesques. In 1860 he scripted Ekei ki bale Sabhyata and Buro Shaliker Ghare Ro, both of which became quite popular.
In the same year, Dinabanadhu Mitra’s Nildarpan showed the ruthless exploitation of peasants employed on indigo plantations by the British. The Bengal Renaissance brought a definite divide between rural and urban cultures. The European-inspired proscenium theatre emerged in Kolkata, while rural cultures moved closer to the folk theatre-based Jatra, which to this day are staged in the open air with the audience seated on all sides. Jatras continued to thrive, modestly, mostly on social themes concerning Hindu-Muslim relations, as well as historical and mythological stories.
Religious revivalism grew in parallel with European liberalism during the second half of the 19th century. This was the context in which the first Bengali theatre actor, Girish Chandra Ghosh, emerged. Ghosh soon started writing, directing and acting in plays, with people filling the theatres to see him. Ghosh’s plays were based on the stories of historical characters, such as Chaitanya Dev and some focused on mythology. The nature of the subject of these dramas re-introduced music into Bengali theatre. To Ghosh’s credit, he chose different song forms for different genres. This dynamism is why Ghosh could purvey to audiences with varying tastes and still meet expectations.
Pre-independence, the Bengali theatres played a crucial role in manifesting opposition to the British Raj. The Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote several plays with uniquely minimalist and non-classical dance and music sequences known today as Rabindra-Nrityas. Tagore combined a European style and structure into his plays which made sense because of the significant European influence. Tagore’s plays were primarily performed at his house in Calcutta, Jorashanko or Santiniketan. However, they failed to produce interest from general audiences. This later changed drastically once Sombhu Mitra’s group ‘Bohurupi’ began performing Tagore’s stories and plays; this brought Tagore’s work to the forefront of Bengali culture.
With the onset of the 20th century, at the popular commercial theatre space called the ‘Sadharon Rongaloy’. A part of the cultured Bengali elite entered the world of theatre, and along with them came the subtle nuances of European styles. Things such as set design, lighting, and acoustics were experimented with and given more importance.
The 1930s and 1940s saw several groups of artists evolve, with the primary purpose being to voice opposition to the state’s politics. In 1943, Bengal was devastated by a famine that left five million Bengalis dead, and the streets of Calcutta filled with millions of refugees; this was also the year in which the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) was formed. Bijan Bhattacharya’s Nabānna in 1944 was a play about a family that moves to Calcutta during the famine. This play was influential and resonated with the emotions of the Bengali people. For the first time in its history, the real political theatre was penned and displayed on the Bengali stage.
After the Indian independence in 1947, the leftist movements in West Bengal used theatre as a medium for social awareness. This added some unique aspects to the art form that still has powerful effects. These groups distinguish themselves ideologically from commercial Bengali theatre.
To conclude, Bengali theatre has always been at the heart of Indian culture. It has adapted and evolved with time and has been a fundamental part of Indian Culture. This International Theatre Day, we must come together to appreciate and remember the legends that have woven the culture that we see in front of us today.
