A Theatre Form Called Nautanki - Essay Example

A Theatre Form Called Nautanki Further to our discussion about the next play, for which you have kindly agreed to fund, I would like to propose a theatre form called nautanki, about which I am sending you a write-up, including actor training, gestures, movements, make-up, costumes etc. in detail. I will also let you know the work that has to be done for this play beforehand. In the northern part of India, a play form called Nautanki is popular even today. It is a kind of street play and is supported by mythological story snippets or by folk lore. It could take the form of songs and dances or could have a detailed theme in it. It is a roving theatre form, today considered to be a little uncouth by educated Indians; but could also be called as folk dance, village drama etc. It is a rural version of the word, natak, meaning drama in Sanskrit and according to a legend, the word nautanki might have come because it was the name of a princess and the initial dramas were about her love story which eventually signified a theatre genre. “Nautanki is staged in courtyards and maidans. The music is not exactly classical or even folk but has a pattern of its own, which does not vary much from drama to drama. The poetry is written in various metrical patterns and sung according to a special convention. The prominent musical instrument is the nagada (a single-faced kettle drum) which, in fact heralds a Nautanki performance. The sarangi and harmonium are also used. The dholak (drum) provides the rhythm” Nautanki is based only in North India, especially in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. To give a brief history of this operatic drama, it is important to know that they started as musicals, evolved out of ballads and recitals, with emotional drama and elaborate gesticulation, stories focussing on heroes and anti-heroes of the society, usually performed on a make-shift platform, starting with the invocation of God. It is not only the stage, but the surrounding trees, building, windows, doors or any other decorative items that simply happened to exist adjacently could be used as part of the play to make it more authentic. The rural folk enjoyed the high drama in it and it applied to all the religions and cultures. Even today it is considered to be a highly secular dance form, where stories from all the religious mythologies are performed and appreciated. It starts with Ranga’s (Director or the main person) singing, supported by harmonium accompanied by scintillating different numerical beats of the drum, while the actor dances energetically stepping up the tempo according to the situation going on. Mostly slim men and younger boys with high melodious voice act as females and it is a blend of Hindu and Muslim cultures where language, music, costumes are concerned. There is no definite play for nautanki; instead, it can adopt any piece from any story or folklore and thus, its scope is unlimited. It fully reflects the society and not a part of it. Language is usually a mixture of rural Hindi, Braj, Rajastani and Urdu. “Nautanki would intersperse the telling of a moral tale with a heady mixture of melodrama, songs and comic interludes. Almost Brechtian in nature” according to famous film director, Shekhar Kapoor, PLAY I propose a sequence from Ramayana where Shurpanakha, a sister of Ravan goes to the jungle camp of Ram, Sita and Laxman. The play could be explained as below: Ram, the crown prince of Ayodhya, chooses to spend fourteen years in the jungle instead of inheriting the crown from father Dasharath, to keep a promise that Dasharath had given to his third and beloved queen Kaikeyi. Sita, Ram’s wife and his younger brother Laxman accompany Ram to the jungle and there, they build the huts, ready to spend the fourteen years there, without knowing what was in store for them. Ravan was the ruler of Lanka, a rude, arrogant and uncompromising king, drunk with power and wealth. His sister Shurpanakha was frivolous and obstinate. During one of her visits to the jungles, she was impressed by the handsome Ram and begs him to be her lover. For this purpose, she had become a very beautiful princess, unlike her rather uglier usual appearance. We come to know that she had the power to change her appearance in any way she wanted. But Ram remains unimpressed; says politely that he was already married and mischievously shows Laxman, who was lonely in the jungle. Being rejected made Shurpanakha wild and when Laxman too rejects her, she shows her real form and tries to threaten them and Laxman, who disliked killing a woman, disfigured her by severing off her nose. Shurpanakha returns to her almighty brother with the much exaggerated tale and he kidnaps Sita and the war and the ruin of Lanka followed. Here, we are concerned only with the visit of Shurpanakha to the jungle camp of Ram. ACTORS: Ram: Crown Prince of Ayodhya Sita: His consort, princess of Mithila. Laxman: Prince of Ayodhya Shurpanakha : King Ravan’s sister, the princess of Lanka. As nautanki has evolved a lot in recent years, it is not compulsory to have slim young men for the female roles; but we can have female actors. ACTOR TRAINING It is not an easy business under the circumstances. The actor should have at least the working knowledge of Braj, Hindi or Sanskrit to understand the play, dialogues, singing with original nuances. Personal coaching, communication skills and making them at ease while audience looks at them etc. take a long period of training. They should be able to do multi-tasking in the form of simultaneously delivering dialogues, singing, dancing, think of the next line, give attention to the other actor and be sensitive to the response of the audience etc. They have to choose sometimes between concentration and attention. They should also be aware of the individual interpretations of the audience. The actor who plays Ram should look kind, benevolent, affectionate and ready to forgive Shurpanakha’s error of judgment. Sita is endearing, affectionate, secure and unthreatened by Shurpanakha. Laxman is patient in the beginning, more aggressive in the latter part of the play. Shurpanakha is very aggressive, thoughtless, arrogant, jealous of the other woman, angry at being rejected and insulted, and thirsting for revenge in the final part of the play. MAKE-UP: RAM AND LAXMAN: Despite being princes, Ram and Laxman in this sequence are simple jungle dwellers. Their make up is simple, more like saints than princes. So, there is nothing much to do about their make up other than the hair gathered on top and simple wooden sandals on their feet, more suitable for saints in the forest. SITA: Though she is the crown princess, she cannot wear grand make-up as she is in the jungle now. Her make up is very simple with some absolutely necessary jewellery and plenty of flowers. SHURPANAKHA: This is a difficult region where make up is concerned. Shurpanakha comes into the play as a rather wild princess, but princess all the same, with traditionally loud make up. Shurpanakha belonged to the Dravidian race and naturally she was dark and to some extent, ugly; but always tried to enrich her looks, like any other woman, by vivid make-up. Her hair is curly and she is adorned with jewellery of all kinds. Being a princess, she is lavishly attired. When she takes a milder form, she is very beautiful (naturally two people have to act here as two different Shurpanakhas), full of pleasing make up, beautiful jewellery, flowers, excellent hair-do etc. The first actor has to take over at the end of the play, when Shurpanakha attains her real form. This is the challenging part of the make-up. GESTICULATION In nautanki the gesticulations are exaggerated to reach the simple crowd and are very significant. There is no subtlety about it and every movement is highly dramatic. Gesticulations have to be taught to the actors so that they could co-ordinate it with the singing and dance steps. It is an intricate affair and not very easy to do without repeated rehearsals. While Ram is a dignified, calm person with softer gesticulations, Sita too is more or less controlled in her gesticulations. Laxman is the most aggressive of the three and he can show anger, helplessness, and violence through his gesticulations. Shurpanakha has the most elaborated gesticulations as the original arrogant princess. But she becomes coy, passionate and alluring as the changed princess. When she returns to her original form, her gesticulations become wild, unpredictable, and violent with unbridled anger accompanied by uncontrolled roaring of agony and aggression. When she professes through it that her brothers would revenge her insult, the play ends on that high note. CONSTUME: RAM AND LAXMAN: As jungle dwelling princes, they wear either white or light orange clothes, draped the traditional way, presumed to be prevalent in the days of Ramayana even though there is no hard proof for it. We have to go by the tradition here and costumes have to be very simple. They do not wear any jewellery; but perhaps they could wear some worship beads. They use simple wooden sandals suitable for jungle life. Flowers could be used in garlands around the neck and on wrists. SITA She is almost similar in her dressing, which is simple, and ascetic with the identical color ordinary clothes. Her hair should be done with the simple style, but should be adorned with flowers. There is scope for more flowers than jewellery here. But she does wear minimum jewellery. As we learn from the latter part of Ramayan, Sita wears jewellery that was considered to be absolutely essential for a woman in those days. Hence, she is not totally devoid of jewellery, which could include, jewellery worn on the hair, chains, finger rings, toe rings, anklets etc. SHURPANAKHA AS THE PRINCESS Shurpanakha has to wear very brilliant and conflicting colours made from rich clothes. She is the princess of a wealthy kingdom and should be attired as one. She should wear expensive jewellery all over her body and conflicting color beads could accompany her jewellery. She is an arrogant princess with plenty of brother-power behind her. She is an adored person in her domain, who had hundreds of maids to decorate her body and her costume, make up, hair, jewellery should reflect such care and position. The most important knowledge that should accompany the costume and make up of Shurpanakha is that she was a Dravidian princess and was of dusky color. As Aryans have written the Ramayana, Shurpanakha was depicted as a very ugly woman. Some of that ugliness should be shown in her make-up to be true to the script. SHURPANAKHA AS A BEAUTY As an alluring and attractive beauty, Shurpanakha transforms herself into an Aryan princess with pale color, lovely face and beautifully formed body. Her clothes will be subtle, but extremely pleasing to the eyes, as beautiful as the rainbow. She becomes a dream princess with flowing hair, full of tasteful jewellery, suitably fascinating make-up and charm. Her colors here are mesmerizing when she becomes the epitome of beauty. Her make up in both the forms becomes the highpoint of this nautanki. Nautanki is a rich cultural kaleidoscope that unfolds the heritage, mythology and the art form of northern India. It is more or less unknown in the southern parts where they have their own art forms. “Through forms such as Nautanki we can glimpse the significant role of theatrical performance in producing shared values and symbols and hence in constructing community.” It is one of the early art forms of India with the earthy flavor still intact in it. There is a strong continuation aspect with certain evolvements. But it has never lost its originality, despite being relegated into the background today with other, more sought after forms of entertainment. I can assure you that this is one of the most original and authentic forms of drama. I hope that my project is acceptable and you deem it suitable for funding so that I would be able to stage it within three months. BIBLIOGRAPHY ONLINE SOURCES 1. http://www.indiaprofile.com/religion-culture/nautanki.htm 2. http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2007/12/the_art_of_naut.htm 3. http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft9v19p2qq&chunk.id=d0e9542&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=eschol 4. Read More