quot;Brecht8217;s works distortedquot;

MUMBAI, February 8: The political writings of German author Bertolt Brecht are barely understood by Indian playwrights. Theatre personalitie...

MUMBAI, February 8: The political writings of German author Bertolt Brecht are barely understood by Indian playwrights. Theatre personalities of the city reached this agreement at a gathering organised by the Bertolt Brecht Janmashatabdi Samaroh Samiti. The meet, graced by street theatre activists, writer-directors and critics, termed the homegrown versions of Brecht8217;s scripts as quot;grand and much-hyped distortions.quot;

Member organisations of the Samiti, formed in memory of Brecht8217;s birth anniversary 1898-1956, included the Indian People8217;s Theatre Association, Lokwangmay Gruha, Jaagar and Adivasi Sahitya Parishad. The celebrations started with a release of Marathi and Hindi translations of Brecht8217;s poems. The discussion centred around rediscovering Brecht8217;s Epic or Dialectic Theatre in the context of present challenges faced by Indian political theatre. Critic Kamlakar Nadkarni came down heavily on theatre directors like Jabbar Patel and Vijaya Mehta who quot;have deliberately eliminated the politics from Marathiadaptations of Brecht8217;s works.quot; Patel has concentrated on the music of Three Penny8217;s Opera Teen Paishyacha Tamasha, and Mehta stuck to the sentimental Caucasian Chalk Circle Ajab Nyay Vartulacha. They have conveniently avoided Brecht8217;s anti-fascist philosophy, he said.

Dalit writer Sanjay Pawar remarked that Marathi playwrights and directors cannot be even expected to honestly adapt a Brecht play. quot;We are not clear in our political thoughts. Most of our so-called leftist playwrights write lyrics for an organisation like the Shiv Sena. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, who had once opposed plays like Ghashiram Kotwal, inaugurates Theatre Academy function and waxes eloquent on freedom of expression. And the director of Gandhi-Ambedkar complains against a casteist bias after being refused an award by the jury. We have to first think straight. And then we can think of meaningful political theatre,quot; he said.

Theatre critic Shanta Gokhale also pointed to the lack of political theatrein Maharashtra and other parts, including Bengal and Karnataka. quot;Like in Mumbai, there is a theatre vacuum in Calcutta too. No director can boast of serious political plays. With a leftist government in power, they do not know which issues to raise. So, they are contended doing Death of a Salesman, which cannot be termed political8217; anyway.quot;

Writer and IPTA activist Ramesh Rajhans said Marathi and other playwrights could not emulate Brecht because quot;his philosophy of opennessquot; was unacceptable to them. quot;Brecht believed in granting maximum intelligence to his audience. He never believed in the finality of a script, which is why he always rewrote his published plays,quot; Rajhans informed.