Book-Review: The play is the thing: Sri Ram memorial lecture by Vijay Tendulkar

5 Pages·1997·1.3 MB·English

BOOK REVIEWS
The Play is the Thing: thar Tendulkar's works
have enjoyed since the rt::l<ilI°=:::C::C!ll::l:lI.
Sri Ram r"emorial 1970,.
Lecture,X The lecture is marked
by Tendulkars simple,
VijayTendulkar
direct and lucid style of
SriRamCentrelor PerformingArts, speaking andwriting. H~
Delhi,1997 makes itquiteclear atthe
outsetthatheisnot about
36pages(paperback)
toholdforthonhowplays
price not mentioned
shouldbewrittenbuton howhehaswnucnhis.
In the process, he hopes the audience willget
Vijay Tendulkar has seldom spoken about his
"aninsideviewofthemedium withitspeculiar
work.Heis,byhisownadmission.aninveterate intricacies". His observation of himself as a
observerofhumanbeings.Heisalso,bygeneral practitionerofthecraftisempirical.unaidedby
consent, an observer who wears a permanent. either a universally accepted or individually
almostbuilt-inguard againstbeingobserved. evolved theory. He holds no discourse with
Unlike other major playwrights of the: other practitioners either within the' country or
~1a.r~Uhisf~gewhohave:writtenlongprefacesto
outside.
their published plays, elucidating their social
Tendulkar'sdirectnesshelpsonetailorone's
an~ aesthetic concerns. and the processes by
expectationstohisdeclaredscope. whichishis
which those works were written, Tendulkat
own practice and. within thai, his own
allowshisplays tobepublished largelywithout
perceptionofwhataplaywrigbris."Asr-:rmy
comment.
definition",hesays,"ap13)wrighti!'ionewhois
AlsoOOICv.:Qrttlyisthefactthatheistheonly
willing to devote his prime years 10 learn and
playwrightwho hasnotbeen(perhapsrefusedto
internalise this demanding art and use it to
be) interviewed for Sangeet Natak Akadcmi's
unravel the mysteries of human mind and
pU~licalion Contemporary Indian Theatre,
human existence." Byinference, his idea of a
whichotherwise carried interviews withallthe
playisadramaticworkwhichprobesandopens
playwrights and directors whose works were
up thesetwin mysteries 10 make the audience
staged in the: Nehru Shatabdi Natva Samaroh
n:oreawareofitself.
held inDelhiin 1989. J
It is against this background that one Ifthissoundslikeageneralization,oneneed
only Jay th~ definition over all of Tendulkar's
welcomesthe publication of the tenth Sri Ram
~~~moria1 Lecture delivered in Iwo parts by workstoseehowwenitcoversthem,asalso10
see how completely it e,;c1udes the works of
VIJay Tendulkarunder the title ThePIa)'isthe
Thing.The booklet will fill a much rearened playwrightS like Badal Sircar, Girish Kamad
and KavalamPanikkar.ltisahold-alldefinition
lacunainthetheatrestudent's library. Beinein
En•grIS'h•I'twi.ll alsohavethecountrywidereeach forrealisticplaywrightswhichboastsIbsenand
Sangwfl'atat No. 123 January- March 1997
46 SHAi'oTAGOKHALE
Tendulkarhas been credited with changing
Chekhov at one end and. at the other. those
the language of Marathi drama from its
scores of playwrights all over the world who
have. under pretext of exploring the human erstwhile literary/melodramatic cadences to
mind and human existence. written drama that realistic speech patterns. He himself attributes
has merely exploited the self-obsession of the the range and texture of his language to his
middle-classtoprovideasicklycatharsisforits talent for picking up and retaining the speech
variouscomplexes. patternsofpeopleheencountersinhisdailylife.
Tendulkar has not touched either end quite Once recorded. retrieval comes automatically
completely in anyofhis works though he has with need.
come near 10 doing so. But history and While Tendulkar's observations on
circumstances combined with his own special characterization do not rise above the
sk.iIIshave made him the pioneerofrealism in axiomatic-eharacters (ina realistic play) must
Marathi theatre. Emerging on the scene at the nOIbe puppetsbUIflesh-and-bloodpeople-his
beginning of the latter half of the 1950s in a discussion of structure yields some pointsof
'new theatre' movement propelled by the interest. More or less admitting that hisearlier
patronage offered to young theatre enthusiasts plays are marred by structural deficiencies, he
by theMumbaiMarathiSahityaSangh and the revealsthe measureshehastakentounderstand
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, he learned structureand howitworks.
hiscraftonthejob, sotosay. Heundertook two exercises-one practical
This much and the unfolding of his career and one experiential. He would see bad plays,
later are facts recorded in the history of identify their structural defects, and rewrite
contemporary Marathi theatre. What is nor themmentallytoamendthem.Thisgavehiman
generally known, however,are the antecedents immediate understanding of what worked and
leading up to his emergence on the theatre what didn't. In the longer term, he opened
scene. He describes these vividly in his first himselftoexperiencingotherartformstomake
lecture. devoted to a discussion of himselfaware ofhow theywere structured.He
characterizationandstructureinhisplays. hasbeenanavid listenerofHindustanimusic,a
Tracinghisinterestintheatretohisboyhood regularvisitortoartgalleriesand, inthesixties,
days, he talks about the rehearsals and loved to watch wrestling bouts. He assertsthat
performancesofamateurproductions which he these experiences have given him a grip00
gotto see because his fatherandolder brother dramaticstructure.
were involved in them. Those were the days The concluding part of the second lecrurt
when males still played female roles. During brings Tendulkar to the tricky issue of the
rehearsals.litthen bykerosenelanterns,hesaw relations between the playwright and director
the actors as males with moustaches who and the play and its audience. The St3ternetll
adoptedafemininegaitandmannerisms.Onthe '1111:: play is the thing' now produces the sub
day of the performance, the same actors, question 'Theplayisexactly whatthing?' .
costumed andmade up, would be transformed Likemostrealisticplaywrights,Tendulkar~
intostrangers. possessive of the meaning of his plays. This
"After the performance", he continues, "I 'meaning' is largely conveyed through verbal
would sneakbackstagetowatch theactorswho language.Whatissaidand howitissaidiswhat
playedthefemalessmokebidisandchange into matters. He is therefore distrustful of directors
their male clothes. The false breasts would who 'interpret' his plays. A play",right ~
COmeoffand a hairy chest would be exposed preventhis play becomingan "invisiblegh~
withoutanyinhibition...Ialwaysfeelthatthis that drags "its feet on the stage without bewg
firstand repeatedexperienceofthe mystiqueof seenor fell" by making ittaut. ard
theatre has something to do with my being However,what the playwrightcannot gu
drawnto thetheatre:' against are the unexpected interpretations the
BOOKREVIEWS ~7
audience foists on his work. 1n the ultimate for the Ford Foundation. ParroilS& '
analysis, then. the playwrightis forcedtoadmit an instuution which has Philistines
that the play is that thing which the audience functioned as a major .....-.,.......".....
_~
makesofit! funding agency for many
projects and activities in
SHM,TA GOKIIALE
Ir.fia,a fact which addsa
dimension to her
Patrons & Philistines: perspective.
Arts and the State The book has twelve
in British India chapters devoted to jI...·tlM "
various aspects of the theme. To provide a
Pushpa Sundar
foundation for a moredetailed enumeration of
OxfordUniversity Press, Deihi, 1995 the cultural aspects the author discusses the
interrelationship between culture and arts, the
294 pages (hardback), Rs495 background againstwhich the Britishappeared
on the Indian scene, as also the renaissance
Pushpa Sundar has produced a good study announcedbythenew learninginIndia.Thisis
(which can also be used as a reference-work) followedbyaconsiderationofBritishviewsand
aimed at assessing the effects of government actions in the fields of archaeology and
policies and patronage on Indian arts during preservation. museums and libraries, tine arts
British rule. As arts and culture are inherently andcrafts,theartsandnationalism,thecreation
related. the range of the theme becomes ofnewmonuments,andontheperformingarts.
relevant. Today. inspiteofrepeatedprofessions Even though the author has adminedly relied
of modernity, democratic values. and an mainly 00 sources in English. the writing is
increasingfocuson theCommonMan.weseem largely unbiased.
to behave and believe in the Mahabharata The British authorities were obviously
dictum 'raja katasya karanam' {i.e., the serious,thoughtfuland informed aboutamand
monarch is the cause of the character of the culture. The book is full of references which
times)! Looking up to government and bringoutthecomprehensiveBritishconcernfor
governmentagenciesforsupport(patronageisa culture and arts in India. A warrior-governor
badwordl)comesto usnaturally.Thereforethe (EJphinstone); an ambitious ruler (Warren
studyofgovernmentpoliciesandactionsshould Hastings);anintelligent.prejudiced.butaction
attract more nrtention than it does-especially oriented administrator (Curzon};or individuals
inthesphereofcultureand artswhereso many connected moredirectlywiththeartsandcrafts
aspectsareintangible.Inthisrespect,theBritish (Birdwood and Havell): directors of the East
periodofIndianhistoryisespeciallyinstructive. India Company; British members of
In social-cultural matters, it is the recent past parliament-all were intensely engaged in
which is likely to be more relevant than the discussingpolicies,plans,laws,actions.aswell
distant (Curzon is more relevant than asappointmentshavingabearingoneducation,
~harvaka!)Ouryesterdayscanbeofgreat help artsandcultureinIndia.IndologistsandBritish
Indealing with the present and the future.The artists and thinkerswere also keen participants
vogue of establishing associations, academies. inthedebates.ThisisthereasonwhytheBritish
corporationsand autonomousbodiestowork in periodcreatesaresponseevenincontemporary
arts and culture is. on the increase as also minds.Ofcoursethebook alsobringstonotice
schemes and strategies of fundins them and the biases of British travellers. missionaries.
diMributing privileges. Therefore i;is essential Company officials and. later, government
to examine patronage, and the policies administrators or acad~micjans. But it must be
responsible for shaping the sensibilities of grantedthatindifferencecould hardlyhavebred
contemporary patrons. The author has worked prejudices!
48 ,\SHOKD.RAN,\DE
Repeatedly,andinvaryingcontexts,Pushpa not succeed in carrying out their tasks of
Sundar is at pains [0 point to one British philanthropic potentialities in spite of an
characteristic:the Britishauthoritiescarriedout efficient government machinery, methodical
theirpoliciesandprogrammesincultureandthe administration.aviewpointinspiredbythenew
arts mainly because, both politically and education, liberal policies, and impressive
administratively,itwasexpedienttodoso.The statements and promises. She notes some
political superiority they enjoyed needed the Interesting reasons for the non-performance.
supportof acuhural victory,and itwas to this Firstly.theBritishwere mainlymotivatedtoact
end that they used lite weapon of culture- and by policies and ideals accepted and currentin
arts-related policies. As will be pointed out England. Secondly. those laying down the
later,this isarather simplified interpretanon of policiesandthoseactuallyexecutingrhemwere
a more complex situation. However. some opposed 10 each other. A telling exampleisof
examples the author has presented are the institutes setup to impart art-educationand
noteworthy.TheBritishauthoritieswerekeento the Public Works Department which was
collect samples of arts and crafts from various expected to provide employment to those
regions. prepare monographs on them. and trained in these schools. Yet another was the
arrange exhibitions of numerous artifacts in contradiction of holding exhibitions to
London.Butthereasonwastheanxietytheyfelt encourage Indian artists and craftsmen and
about the declining standards of British following this up with the open-market, free
craftsmanship. and the motive was to provide trade policies which killed them. Thirdly, the
Britishmanufacturerswithnewdesignsleading entire thinking was typically middle-class!
to cheap mass-produced articles. This was Decisionsaboutwhat isbeautifulorobsceneor
expectably to be followedby throwingopento moral were taken according to the thinking
British manufacturers the vast and unprotected current in England. The most importantreason
Indian market. It was decided to introduce was of course the superiority complex lhe
modemeducationintheartsandarchitectureby British suffered from. 'Everything Indian is
creating new institutions, but the aim was to inferior and we can undoubtedly improve ii'
ensurean easy supplyof subordinate labourto was the basic premise for the rulers' policies
'0
buildmonumentsfit symbo1ize thestatusof andactions.Where valuesaretobeappreciated
the rulers! An entire network of educational and assessed. such easy and sweeping
bodieswassought(0beestablishedatalllevels. generalizationscan hardly help asaguideline.
education was to be thrown open-but the Firm. and yet without uncalled-for
intention was10 putinto positiondocile flocks aggressiveness-suchisthetenorofthewriting.
of clerical personnel essential to rule over the All of us today are products of the British
vast, multilingual. multiracial, multireligious, heritage. and it is not easy to be categorical
and largely illiterate country! Many other when referring to a heritage. Fortunately. the
instances are noted and documented-c-but the authorisawareofthedangersofculturalshort
conclusion is the same. Questions about \he sightednessreflectedin afor-or-againstkindof
nature. necessity. and value of arts or culture presentation. It is not true to say that looking
(and the Ihiokiag about how to impart training back is wasteful. especially when the lnd~an
in them. to whom, whenand why) wereraised nation has completed fifty years--a duranon
and answered by the British authorities who insignificantin the life-spanofanation. .
were power-conscious, politically motivated Andyetitmustbestatedthattheauthorfalls
and administratively inspired! The evidence to do full justice to the culturally complex
gathered by the author is 'factual', and it also phenomenon of the Indo-British traffic of
supportssimilarviewsheldbymanyothers.Itis influences viewed in totality.The periodn~
certainlythought-provoking. examination from many differenl angles. ItIS
The writer isconvinced that the British did nor enough to examine the motives of the
BOOKREVIEWS 49
'givers' alone, as the 'takers' are equally toperceivethe performingreality.
responsibleinculturaljuxtapositions. The point is that, during the process of
It is interesting to note that various regions extending support, the 'givers' underwent
and communities in india were influenced by changes. No analysis of the essentially
the British according to their own cultural relational act of patronage can be complete
dynamics.TheParsis,forinstance,respondedto unless such happenings 'along the road' art
the new patronage differently than Hindus or accounted for. Perhaps it may also be added
Muslims.Further, whileevaluatingeffects, itis that,trulyspeaking,onlythePortugueseandthe
imperative in India to attend to w'ritings in British were the 'rear foreign powers. These
regional languages. Writings in regional two need to be compared and not theMughals
languages during the nineteenth century (for and the British-because in the final, cultural,
instance in Mamthi and Bengali) were often analysistheMughalscanhardlybedescribedas
criticalof the government's interest in culture. aliens! IfSundarcould haveprobeddeeperinto
They showed awareness of the possible harm theevolutionary stagesofrulers'support toam.
that may come to the arts and advocated and culture in India, she would have realized
strategic use of British patronage instead of that the British support system failed mainly
submissive or blind acceptance. Most because it meantanegation of thedana model
importantly (especially in the context of developed in India over centuries. The British
Sundar's focus on culture), it is necessary to rulers sought to replace the model with a
note that performing arts, and within the triad systematicculturalbarter.
music,elicitedadifferentkind ofresponsefrom Toconclude,thewritercanbecreditedwith
the British. As I have argued elsewhere, even having reopened a debate which needs [0 be
though the initial British response to Indian continued-especiaJIywhentheideaofcultural
musicwas 'orientalist', it soongave way to an sponsorship isintheascendancy!
indoJogist (and a welcome) deviant viewpoint
which,intum,appliedanotherself-correctionto
clearthedecksforan ethnomusicological angle ASIIOKD.RASADE