KOLKATA-based theatre group Ushneek is back with a new production this month, called Babai, to be staged on the occasion of their 36th anniversary. The play is based on Swedish playwright August Strindberg’s The Father and has been trans-created to suit a contemporary audience.
Written and directed by Ishita Mukherjee the play deals with the darkness of relationships, once the veil of self-assured trust and faith is replaced by suspicion and doubt. “This is one of the most well-known plays based on human relationships. The play deals with issues of proof of fatherhood and gender politics, played out in the form of a power struggle between a husband and his wife. As we have scientific technology with DNA tests today, it would have seemed irrelevant in the present context. So, I shifted the focus of the play to trust in human relationships,” explains Ishita, the director.
Babai is the story of a family where three major characters are involved — the mother Maya Bose (played by Sreejata Banerjee), who wants to take control of the entire household, daughter Mimi (played by Arunika Sen), and Dipankar Bose, the father (played by Debsankar Halder), who wants to send his girl away for higher studies, against her mother’s wishes. Chanda Chatterjee, Subhashis Mukherjee, Prabir Dutta and Saptarshi Bhowmick make up the remaining cast.
The plot takes on an ominous note, as Maya plans to remove her husband from the helm of all household affairs, and evokes a deep sense of distrust and suspicion against Dipankar, about the life he had been leading till then.
“Since the advancement of technology and capitalism, our power to believe in things is diminishing every day. We are losing the power to trust somebody or believe them blindly, as we have come to see everything through a prism of suspicion and disbelief. Being a classic, the play resonates with contemporary society on many different levels, whether it’s personal or political,” offers Ishita.
The play also explores a feminist perspective, questioning the values of one’s upbringing versus biological parentage. “It is a regime of patriarchy that makes us believe that even to love a child, one needs to prove one’s fatherhood,” affirms Ishita. “Eventually, the father, in order to escape the emotional turmoils and suspicions, veers towards a self-imposed simplemindedness, and becomes a child himself,” she adds.
“The biggest challenge would be to hold the attention of the audiences, in a play that requires prolonged engagement and alertness of mind. People are used to more commercial forms of entertainment these days. But I have full faith in my audience,” says Ishita.
Lights have been coordinated by Bablu Sarkar, music has been coordinated by Ablu Bhattacharya, and the set has been designed by Sanchayan Ghosh. Makeup and costumes have been coordinated by Alok Debnath and Debjit Bhattacharjee, production management has been done by Subhojit Bakshi and Debjit, and the voiceover has been given by Tulika Das, with special credits for calligraphy and design to Saumik.
At the Academy of Fine Arts on May 17, 6:30 pm.