“But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself” — this quote by C.S. Lewis was the driving force in the play Aajir staged by theatre group Shudraka.
The play that was part of a two-day fest by the Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha, was adapted from a play by Mahasweta Devi. The play revolves around Paatan, a third-generation slave who is denied the right to love, marry and live a life of dignity. Director Swapan Mondal, who essayed the role of Paatan, says, “We did not want to adapt the play to the modern setting as it could lose its flavour. So, we retained the story as it was written.”
The story takes a turn when Paatan realises that the slavery bond doesn’t exist anymore, but his joy is short-lived when he is tried for the murder of his owner’s wife. The production was impressive and the group managed to create the scene of a village household. “This play was adapted by Debashish Chakraborty but we used tunes from Telangana and Rajasthani folk music for the background score,” says Swapan.
Shudraka, is a theatre-group that has been performing plays in various languages since 2004, but this play was a kind of resurgence. They took a sabbatical of almost 9 years. “We have done this play in Hindi and Telugu too and it was well received in 2006. This time we wanted to do it in Bengali,” says Swapan Mondal.
