Asian Theatre and Drama - Essay Example

?Asian Theatre and Drama Table of Contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 3 Navigating Through ‘Post Office A Close Introspection to the Performance by PETA 4 Conclusion 6 References 7 Introduction Rabindranath Tagore, the noble laureate from India, has produced some unparallel short stories and plays. In 1912, Tagore produced one of his impeccable plays of all times, “Post Office” in Bengali, a provincial language of India it is pronounced as ‘Dak Ghar’. The play centers round a story of a small boy suffering from an incurable disease named Amal captivated into one room posited at the house of his uncle. Decked up with a number of psychological and social issues, the play brought a remarkable fame to Tagore not only within the nation but across the globe as well. The combination of pathos and the humor operating hand-in-hand within the plot of the play enables a huge scope for a prolific presentation of the play on stage. Owing to this scope, a lot of modernization and improvisations have been incorporated within the plot of the original text while performance by various dramatists. PETA’s Ang Post Office which was performed in the 4th Day of the month of September in 2010, Directed by Grady Labad and Dramaturgy framed by Rustom Bharucha and the adaptation was done by Rody Vera. The entire play gives a different dimension to the language of humanity but the presentation of the ending scene, where the protagonist Amal is lying on the bed dying builds a spectacle unforgettable. The light, sound and action of the characters the moving of the bed, and the association of all the characters on stage transformed the macabre of death into a panorama worth viewing that has the strength to percolate through the mundane inhibitions and comprehension of human mind and transport the audience into some space belonging to cosmic realm1. Thesis Statement This essay intends to focus on the ending scene of the performance of Tagore’s ‘Post Office’ by PETA and the intensity of its presentation through which the group is able to take the viewers on a cosmic ride almost. Navigating Through ‘Post Office’: A Close Introspection to the Performance by PETA Before analyzing the ending scene of the PETA’s ‘Post Office’ performance, it is very eventual to introspect into the original text from which the play has actually evolved; its themes, motif and most importantly a thorough judgment of its backdrop and context should also taken into consideration. Tagore’s ‘Post Office’ is a play from the pantheon of symbolic theatre. One can trace another plot running through the main plot of the play which is allegorical nature. The allegory inherent in the play, ‘Post Office’ by Tagore les at the pivotal motif of the play or the most potent theme considered. Illusion and reality at the end of the world and the eternal battle of life and death is the crux of the play. Tagore’s own fascination for the mysticism associated with death and life after death actually glossed the play, ‘Post Office’. Tagore’s idealism for the spiritual death finds profound expression through the presentation of Post Office. The dynamics of skepticism regarding the physical and spiritual death all through his life gets a proper expression in the play, ‘Post Office’. Amal dies a physical death, but his physical death is not his actual death. Amal seems to die, but his physical extinction does not lead an end to life’s unceasing voyages2. The village doctor was about to maltreat and put him to death, but Amal feels that when a patient is visited by the royal physician, then no one can fall into the clutches of death so easily. Through the fabric of metaphors Amal awaits the King’s letter to come to him directly pondering upon the window through which he can see the Post Office. The door or the route to the endless road opens at the closing scene of the play. The royal physician himself brings the message for Amal, but the message of emancipation from the hands of the royal physician brings an end to the material journey for Amal and his death promises a spiritual awakening for him3. Abel, the Filipino version of Amal through his wit, intelligence and raw innocence continues to baffle the audience through his encounter with Magtataho, Tanod, Poldo, Taong Banal, Celia, Hepe, Mensahero, inquisitive kids from the neighborhood and many others. Nevertheless, one must not undermine the fact, that the role of Abel is casted with a different motif in the play ‘Ang Post Office’ by PETA. He is the mouthpiece both philosophical and spiritual of all the stakeholders associated with the play; author, translator and the adapter. The quest for establishing the actual co-relation between life and death has been tried to attain through Abel in the play4. The closing scene of the play, ‘Ang Post Office’ is crafted in the hue of symbolic light as well. The scene paves way to light from darkness, the audience finds Abel laying dead on his sick bed, his uncle standing by his side and all his acquaintance gather at one corner and the soldiers stand on the other. The winged angels, Abel’s uncle and the physician start to move the dice on which the bed is placed and a smoke is evoked into the background. Amid all these physical activities, there is a fragment of sky studded with a half moon and stars on the roof of the stage which is depicted as heaven. Nobody can ignore the presence of the fragment of light and sound action taking place above the main stage. It is the symbolic matrix on which the allegory of the scene eludes out. The oscillations of the pendulums, the graphic of an eye and that of a Hindu god Narayana and the river ‘Baitarani’ which stands as the border between the world of materialism and spiritualism evolves out. With the building up of heart touching music, the viewers can see the apparition of a small boy, supposedly Abel standing at the bank of the river, ‘Baitarani’ and God appearing on the other side. The friends of Abel look upwards facing the audience and the graphics of birds appear in the sky, symbolic of the freedom of soul. The centre focal light is upon the dead Abel lying with peace on his bed and is drenched with white light. With the change of graphics into flowers and leafy branches of different shades and the tone of the chorus at the background taking its topmost note, the scene ends into shading of gradual darkness, where till the last minute of the show the centre light lies upon Abel5. This way, the closing scene of the play, ‘Ang Post Office’ turns the brutal dark death, into something soothing, wanted and positive. The cosmic experience through the close scene of the play which the audience goes through is immaculate. Moreover, the death is just a halt of the journey; a break in the unending and unceasing voyage is made felt through every bit of the closing scene in the play. Along with this, the use of light, music and the small fragment of sky and heaven created above the stage through the projector make the scene more intense6. Conclusion It is very easy to portray objective motifs or potent themes on stage. But when dramatis work with texts which are decked up by allegories and symbols, where there are myriad latent themes operating within the plot of the play then the need of such intense scene as seen in the closing scene of the play, ‘Ang Post Office’ evolves out to fulfill the requirement of the transcription of the context of the text on stage through physical dynamics. These kinds of efforts once in a lifetime build such huge spectacle that surpasses mundane sensibilities and ordinary comprehension of human brain and transports them into a realm which is cosmic and universal. References Arcete, Leloi. “PETA's Ang Post Office features animations by Ellen Ramos.” Accessed April 30, 2013. http://www.pep.ph/guide/guide/6585/PETA_. Hogan, Patrick Colm., and Lalita Pandit. Rabindranath Tagore: Universality and Tradition. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2003. Iyer, Natesan Sharda. Musings On Indian Writing In English, Vol. 3: Drama. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 2007. Yeats, William Butler. The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Vol. VI: Prefaces and Introductions. New York City: Simon and Schuster, 2008. Youtube. “PETA's Ang Post Office - Sept 4, 2010.” Accessed April 30, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHRAAkOv-PE. Youtube. “PETA's Ang Post Office Ending.” Accessed April 30, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA74IrY6rvg. Read More