Early Times Report JAMMU, May 6: Rangshala Theatre Group of Society (regd.), Jammu with the Financial Assistance from Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi staged Grish Karnad's Hindi play "Hayavadana" under the able direction of Umesh Singh in Performing Art Studio, Jammu which was highly appreciated by the presentees. The play was prepared in 30 days long theatre workshop organized by Rangshala Sansthan. Hayavadana is one of Karnad's most remarkable works. The plot of Hayavadana comes from Kathasaritsagara, an ancient compilation of stories in Sanskrit. The central event in the play-the story of Devadatta and Kapila- is based on a tale from the Vetalapanchavimshika, but he has borrowed it throughThomas Mann's retelling of the story in The Transported Heads. The Sanskrit tale, told by a ghost to an adventurous king, gains a further mock -heroic dimension in Mann's version. The original story poses a moral problem whereas Mann uses it to ridicule the mechanical notion of life which differentiates between body and soul. He ridicules the philosophy which holds the head superior to the body. The human body, Mann argues, is a device for the completion of human destiny. Even the transposition of heads did not liberate the protagonists from the psychological limits imposed by nature. Karnad's play poses a different problem, that of human identity in a world of tangled relationships. When the play opens, Devadatta and Kapila are the closer of friends-'one mind, one heart', as the Bhagavata describes them. Devadatta is a man of intellect, Kapila a 'man of the body'. Their relations get complicated when Devadatta marries Padmini. Kapila falls in love with Padmini and she too starts drifting towards him. The friends kill themselves and in a scene, hilariously comic but at the same time full of dramatic connotation, Padmini transposes their heads, giving Devadatta Kapila's body and Kapila Devadatta's. As a result Padmini gets the desired 'Man'. Kali understood each individuals moral fibre and was indifferent than the usual stereotypical portrayal of god and goddesses. The sub plot of 'Hayavadana', the horse-man, deepens the significance of the main theme of incompleteness by looking at it from different perspective. The horse man's search for completeness ends comically, with his becoming a complete horse. The animal body triumphs over what is considered, the best in man, the Uttamaga, the human heads! Probably to make a point Karnad names the play 'Hayavadana', human's search for completeness. Audience present on the occasion praised the theme of the play and also the the acting potential of the actors. Artists who were the part of todays production were Hassan malik, Umar qureshi, Satish Vidrohi, Ashish Dhar, Devanshu Raina, Anoop Goswami, Mousami Thakyal, Shweta Jamwal, Irfana bano, Gautam singh, Tarun, Nikhil Singh, Nisha Bhatti, Nikhil and Abhishek Singh, Mohd. Yasir, Raju Sylvesteretc. Overall production incharge was Mohd. Yasir, Costumes was designed by Sunita K. Thakur, Make-up by Nikita while props by Siddharth Singh. Madam Veena Dogra vetern theatre personality lauded the efforts of the team and wished good luck for the future ventures of the society. Mohan Lal Gupta General Secretary RTGS presented vote of thanks. He thanked Secretary, Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi for their kind co-operation and financial support. He also thanked the entire team of Rangshala. |