The Department of English and Cultural Studies,Panjab University,Chandigarh is staging its annual production,Bravely Fought the Queen by well-known playwright Mahesh Dattani and directed by Prof Rana Nayar. The two-hour play is essentially a domestic drama that deals with the story of a dysfunctional,urban family settled in Bangalore. The play casts an ironic look at the marginalisation of women,as well as the gradual dissolution of the patriarchal model,upheld by the decadent men. In his characteristic deft manner,Dattani rips the mask off faces of his characters,revealing their true faces to them and us,exposing the layers of falsehood and hypocrisy in the Indian society. Like Ibsen,Dattani is a practitioner of drama of ideas and some of the prominent ideas he deals within this play are suppression and maltreatment of women,male arrogance,hypocrisy and duplicity,incest,lechery and promiscuousness. Bravely Fought the Queen was written way back in the 1980s and continues to be relevant in our context in the 21st century as well. Apart from being a strong feminist statement,the play also underscores the decline of family in our midst,an institution that we often pride ourselves on. Prof Rana Nayar,who has been directing the annual productions of the department since 90s adds,Theatre is perhaps the only democratic institution left in this country. I work with students because it gives me a chance to discover them outside the restrictive confines of a classroom. Besides,it gives me creative joy and thrill of discovering a text through the process of collective participation. The play will be staged on Sunday at the English Auditorium,Panjab University,from 6 pm to 8.30 pm.
