Abhisar - A Play by Purbaranga, Guwahati

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A Scenes from Purbaranga's Abhisar :: Picture Credit - Bunti Phurailatpam

PURBARANGA Guwahati Play: Abhisar
Date: March 21, 2012

About the Play:

A spectacular poem of the world renowned poet Rabindra Nath Tagore, story based on a aristocratic and privileged harlot ' Basavdutta'. She belongs to Mathura; perplexed man bounces their age limits to get a glance of her beauty, receiving her company is far apart. Attendants and servants all around. One bright day, suddenly her aggressive eyes could notice a monk - ' Upagupta'.
Wise and settled, highly dynamic.
Calm and quite, highly pensionable.
Bold and impressive, highly attractive.
Stunt, Silent Basavdutta..........................
Confirmedly ignored Basavdutta , expressing her eager to meet the unknown she send messenger.
Steady reply from the monk_______-
“Time has yet not arrived, for me to go now

Her intense desire and devoid of self control, feels his presence in every corner.
She tried again..........
“Go, his time and need is needless to me.
My desire - I want;
I want his company I
So do agree the invitation. "

Once again, she received ignorable and confirmed reply –
"When time will arrive , I will be present beside her ; by myself
Fire of angry, insult and ignorance grabbed her. How could an ordinary monk can break her pillar of arrogance depicting beauty and richness. Trying to vanish the needless picture from every corner .
But impossible....................................

Ascending age brings scratch marks , overshadowing the picture of lost and rich beauty. Old age and sickness paralyzed her . Deserted palace, lonely old Basavdutta .
Suddenly, statues towards a ray of light, which further appeared to her............
'The ordinary monk.'Wisely sat beside , her fevered , worn out head on his lap. He removed her age long thirst pouring few drops of water . she huffingly and puffingly replied-" Who are you ? "
The monk replied-"I told you before
When time will arrive,
I will come and
So here I am. "

A Scenes from Purbaranga's Abhisar :: Picture Credit - Bunti Phurailatpam

Director's Note:

To translate a poem into drama form for stage is an Herculean task. And it is so when the story of the poem lies not in text but erupts from its sub-text. 'Abhisar' is a poem in this genre. The literary works of Rabindra Nath Tagore is not only universal but bears meaning to every age to come. The human values, the truth, the beauty and all these bear a need to explain from the zenith of their depiction, and is far away to all conventional application without being away from the thoughts of every section of people.

As there is difference between the earthly pleasure and heavenly happiness, that way to differentiate the acceptance or lose, a personality or a character bear different meaning. A human life was never complete and will never be. Irrespective of all place and time human life has to count everything. In the circle of life man feel hedonism to physical touch along with the ultimate pleasure which keep life trumbling after.

In dramatization the poem some moments have been added to it for the completeness of the play. Apart from Upagupta and Basavdutta other characters are the playwrights own depiction. To bring beauty to the conflict and catastrophe the starting portion of the story has given a change here. I firmly belief all these will not do harm to the aesthetics of the poem. The performance is a juxtaposition of Sattriya an Ojapaali form of Assam. In music score and costume too same thought has been applied.

About the group:

Established in 1991, Purbaranga is committed to extensive exploration of the ancient Assamese musical theatre traditions of Ankai Naat Bhaona and Ojapaali; and contemporary recreation of ancient plays, dramatisation of poems, folk-songs, folktales and performances of new plays. With a training and experimentation workshop held every June-July, it has been studying the use of traditional music and mask in modern theatre, and the Maarti Akharas of Sattriya dance, Ojapaali and Deodhari in particular.

About the Director:

Brought up in a cultural family Gunakar Dev Goswami got the privilege to meet various eminent personalities and see some of their valuable works. Gunakar already wrote 12 plays and Directed over 40 plays. He tried to incorporate the folk forms and experimenting to discover an alternative Assamese theatre using the rich Assamese indigenous performing art and culture as a spring board. In 1991 Gunakar set up the organization "PURBARANGA' and started a new planed project.

The project involved visiting remote areas, doing workshops, seminars and interaction programmes which explores the basic principles of theatre on performance aesthetic. It is committed to Ankia Naat Bhaona, Ojapaali and contemporary recreation of ancient plays, Dramatization of poem, Folk Songs, Folk tales and performance of new plays.

Meanwhile, Gunakar participated a number of national and international drama festivals. The plays Zerenga, Veerangana, Sati, Santras, Tula Aru Teja, Ratnakar, Abhijnanam etc. composed and directed by him were successfully performed in various places like New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bihar, Orissa etc. The famous festivals he participated in are Bharat Rang Mahotsav, N.S.D., Nandikar Theatre Festival, Young Directors Festivals organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi, National Theatre Festival, Hyderabad, etc.

Gunakar Dev Goswami is the first Assamese Director under whom the 2nd year students of National School of Drama had taken a theatre training. Under his direction the students had successfully performed the play "Usha Parinaya" in the form of Ankia Naat Bhaona, whose music and design was done by Gunakar Dev Goswami. Presently, he was invited as a visiting faculty in the performing Art Centre of Dibrugarh University. He is also working as a teaching faculty in various drama institutions of Assam.

Cast:

1. Basavdutta : Seujpriya Borthakur
2. Chandra : Manashi Deka, Himakhi Borah
3. Tara : Nitumoni Gogpi, Tarali Talukdar
4. Ananta : Jagadish Deka
5. Katyayan : Safdar Ahmed
6. Chandrabhan : Debojit Deka
7. Surjyakesh : Jayanta Baishya
8. Prithu : Nilotpal Choudhury
9. Jogiraj / Bhikhu : Mukut Goswami
10. Upagupta : Gunakar Dev Goswami
11. Rajkumar/ Bhikhu : Mukut Goswami

Credits

1. production controller : Mukut Goswami
2.Lights : Ram Hazarika , Ratul Bora
3. Music associates : Kusha Mahanta, Debabrat, Bhabit das , Manashi Deka
4. Property : Biraj Kalita
5. Costume : Seujpriya
6. Based on : Rabindra Nath Tagore's poem ABHISAR
7. Script, music, direction : Gunakar Dev Goswami.