What are Theatre plays?

Theatre plays are a medium through which a maker conveys his message or opinions. It is specially made for the audience.It is performed by the actors with a script as the base. The plot of a play needs to be decided very carefully to determine its success.

Theatre had striven hard for its existence from the ancient period. To make theatre reach people, there were contributions from different people who dedicated their lives for the growth of theatre.

When you ask anyone in India to name a few famous playwrights,they would definitely say “William Shakespeare” or“Arthur Miller” or “Samuel Beckett” or “Oscar Wilde” and the list would go on. Yes, nobody can deny the fact that the contributions of the above people are massive towards Theatre but, how many of us know that there are many Indians who had contributed towards Theatre as well?. How many of us know that the Indian Theatre itself has a definition of its own?Yes,the Indian Theatre is one of the ancient forms of Indo-European and Asian Theatre which is defined by its dramatic performances following the concept of “Natya”.Though it came into existence only after the development of Greek and Roman theatre in the west, it still stood influential and powerful.

India is a country of diverse culture and heritage. Therefore, Theatre in India cannot be unified under one name.This paved way for the origin of different Theatre with respect to the regions and languages.The oldest among them is Sanskrit Theatre. It came into existence in the 2nd century where many plays were written.There were a lot of people who contributed to Theatre during its developmental stages. A few were Bharatamuni,Patanjali,Kalidasa,etc.Further moving on Medieval Theatre “ Bhavabuthi” was the famous playwright.

During the British rule,Theatre saw an evident growth through its plays. Literature started influencing people to write more. Notable people during that period were Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Girish Chandra Ghosh, Dinabandhu Mitra, Rabindranath Tagore and many more.

It was only then the regional influence became more into Theatre which led to the evolution of

• Marathi Theatre
• Bengali Theatre
• Hindi Theatre
• Telugu Theatre

These regional Theatres brought in a new dimension to Indian Theatre where people from different cultures and thoughts began writing under different genres and styles.The competition began very intensively where playwrights began to focus on the message that was conveyed and also retained individual styles of writing.

Many notable playwrights were found raising in fame under each Theatre.People could witness difference in writing and enjoyed watching them.

There were so many plays which stands out till date under each Theatre.

A few of those plays are

• “Abhijñyana Shakuntalam” by Kalidas from Sankrit Theatre
• “Ebong Indrajit” by Badal Sarkar from Bengali Theatre
• “Kanyasulkam” by Gurajada Apparao from Telugu Theatre
• “Andha Yug” by Dharamvir Bharati from Hindi Theatre
• “Gashiram Kotwal” by Vijay Tendulkar from Marathi Theatre

Lets move into the detail on why these plays stand apart from others till date

Abhijñyana Shakuntalam

“Abhijñyana Shakuntalam” was written by Kalidas, who was India’s greatest Sanskrit dramatist.This play revolves around a young lady Shakuntala who falls in love with the King Dhushyantha of Hastinapura and gets married to him.As the king had to take care of the other kingdom affairs leaves her behind handing over to her a ring. Even before she could go to the King, Shakuntala is cursed by Durvasa, a powerful hermit for not attending to him as she was filled in her own fantasies, The only cure to her curse is that the King will remember her only with the ring.On the way to see the king, Shakunthala loses her ring and how she goes about handling the entire situation and gets the King to remember her is the rest of the story.

This beautifully written story which revolves around limited characters and a strong base was highly recognized during that period. That was the time when western poets started getting acquainted to Indian literary works. Shakuntalam was the first Indian drama to be translated into a Western language, by Sir William Jones in 1789.

In the next 100 years, there were at least 46 translations in twelve European languages. Kalidasa's Shakuntalam was the model for the libretto of Karl von Perfall's first opera, which premièred in 1853. The strong plot and the period around which it revolves makes it an outstanding play till date.

Ebong Indrajit

This play Evam Indrajit is an abstract, absurdist play talking more about mechanical existence. After a series of comedy play, this one became one of his critically acclaimed play and remains to be one of his most enduring works, especially outside of native India.The play runs with minimal characters and one focus which is Manasi which is not a character but a representation which refers to the entity of the collective conscience. Dealing with obsession,unclear mind,unsatisfied and struggle with the society, the main lead of the play who is a writer comes to a conclusion that past and present are the two ends of a rope. It ends with an open ended thought which leaves the audience to relate to their roles in the society and decide on their value without giving any presumptions.The Repetitive lines in the play and the way it helps the audience back on to their seats makes it worth a watch.

Kanyasulkam  

This was one of the earliest modern works in an Indian language and it is first telugu play to deal with social issues.This was mainly focussing on the practice of “Kanyasulkam” which can be literally translated as “Dowry”.As it was more prevalent at that time and as the writer of this play “ Gurajada Apparao” considered it to be a disgrace to the society. As he wanted his idea to reach the masses , he chose to write it as a play. This play revolves around people with varied characteristics which make them unique in their way. The way the characters are projected and connected with the story were good enough to get the message conveyed promptly to the audience. With less of comedy, surprises, suspense, it was still able to hold its place in telugu drama. This play was later adapted into a movie under the same name with popular casting which brought in more reach to the play.

Andha Yug

This play was considered to be the first important play of the 20th century India.This play marked the evolution of a new era in Indian theatre.This play was based on the ancient epic “Mahabharata” written by Ved Vyas and mainly focuses on the last day of the Mahabharata war.The playwright “ Dharamvir Bharati” wanted people to related the play with the war to the current society which was filled with selfless, immoral humans and what would happen if individuals succumb to cruelty and cynicism of the blind, dispirited age.The story hints at the perils that await a society that turns away from its wisdom culture and instead succumb to the logic of the moment that can be easily swayed by emotions.As the play had a lot of relative topics for the audience and the playwright also had put in his efforts to justify his ideas through the play, it was well received by the audience and also attracted many directors to stage it across the country.Ratan Tata took the play to the next level by staging it in Japan for the international audience and it also was received well.

Gashiram Kotwal

One of the more acclaimed plays of Vijay Tendulkar. The play is a political satire written as a historical drama.It was mainly written as a response to the rise of a local political party in Maharastra.It mainly focuses on how men in power make their own convenient laws to serve their purpose and destroy it when they are no longer needed.It faced a huge controversy and also was a major hit later. It was also well received by the international audience.The play is notable for the use of the "Tamasha" form in Marathi folk theatre.Music was incorporated to add more effect. With a strong plot and effective portrayal of characters and despite facing a lot of controversy,it was never stopped from making a mark in Indian theatre.