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 Macbeth in a different light - Kasturika Mishra e-mail: kasturikafeministpoetry@gmail.com Photos: Subrangshu Chakravarty August 26, 2023 Many an experiment has gone astray when dancers have digressed from their traditional dance repertoire. The classical period of Indian dance saw dominance of Hindu scriptures as materials on which they played the parts. Be it dance drama or solo artistes till medieval times, Krishna, Radha, Durga, Shiva and many smaller folk gods were the themes of pure dance. After these themes were done to death by almost all the stalwarts came the generation of experimental artists like Aditi Mangaldas, Geeta Chandran, Prathibha Prahlad, Anita Ratnam. This plunge into the darkness of new vistas was but to be followed and emulated by the youngsters. Young dancer Sudip Chakraborty's adaptation of Macbeth is a fresh encounter with a classical Shakespearean drama. His dance theatrical performance bordered on deceit, guilt, revenge and connivance using minimal props with images hanging from ropes on both ends of the stage. As a dancer conversant with his roots in Bharatanatyam and Kolkata influence of Maa Kali in aggressiveness of Macbeth suspicion did weave magic on stage partly due to the excellent use of colored lights by Barun Kar. The birth of a child above the ground opened the scene work and took care that the rest of the performance remained focused on the central character, the valorous Macbeth who fell for the witches' prophecy and committed a crime that he could never reconcile. He was after all a warrior, a simple man who trusted his ambitious wife. The pakhawaj beats were cleverly used to emote by Sudip as if sending a diabolical reference to being "born different."  The next sequence in raag Kirwani displayed how ruthless a warrior Macbeth was and how he wins over King Duncan's faith by expanding his kingdom. In a single costume which a start up dancer can afford Sudip excelled in using his body to highlight the various characters. Only point one kept wondering is, is the recital in Bharatanatyam or Kathak! The recorded soundtrack then moves to sequence of the king praising Macbeth with the ebbing thought of "Macbeth shall be king" in the background.  The high point of the performance was the adept use of abhinaya on the interaction between the principal characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The combing of hair and making plait and getting ready for counselling Macbeth is a totally Indianized version and was an aesthetic treat. The way a man gets beguiled into a woman's persuasion in spite of him failing his moral values. This is followed by a shot with eye movements only and multiple dagger stabs on a sleeping king in pakhawaj beats. Barun Kar's light arrangements on both extremes of the stage to establish Macduff as a person who will eventually kill Macbeth with a dagger is a conceptual piece Sudip tried well. The use of English, Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit all provided the similes to impress on the Indian audience the richness of Indian as well as English plays. Bloody hallucinations in the community supper while Macbeth goes berserk blew the lid off on Sudip's understanding. That the lady dies before Macbeth arrives back from battlefront is a shocker. The bloody hands and washing utensil played aptly. Sudip's expertise in portraying female characters is far better than many in his peer group and reminded me of Birju Maharaj ji in parts. To sum up in few poetic lines I would add: The anklets that danced with a roar, Putrid bloodbath it bore, Gory dark secrets walls within the mind, It's not easy to raise a faithful humankind, Rivers and mountains in times of yore, Retesting the rhythm in that lost world a wee bit more, Yet my artist (Sudip) must raise the bar, Travel his ideas from one stage to afar! (ŠKasturika Mishra)  @Kasturika Mishra is a poet, writer, and dance critic. |
