Peter Brook inspired Karnataka theatre

Sachchidananda Gautam
Bengaluru

British theatre director Peter Stephen Paul Brook, popularly known as Peter Brook, who passed away on Saturday at 97 in Paris will always be remembered as a creative visual genius of our time. Brook had special bonding with India as he took Mahabharata across the globe and proved that the epic doesn’t belong to one country through his historic nine-hour play in the 1980s. He influenced the theatre movements in Karnataka too.

In fact, Nataka Karnataka Rangayana - a government- run theatre repertory - took a leaf out of Brook’s book and launched long-duration plays regardless of the cost involved. Rangayana recently adapted noted writer S L Bhyrappa’s 700-page Kannada novel Parva, (which was translated into various languages including English) into an eight-and-a-half-hour long play. Parva is a modern retelling of Mahabharata that unravels the minds and souls of Mahabharata’s characters with an ensemble of 40 actors.

This prosceniumrestricted play was staged across the country. Earlier to that, C Basavalingaiah mustered enough courage to mount his ambitious nine-hour production Malegalalli Madumagalu. The play was designed in the spacious one-acre area surrounding Rangyana in Mysuru. After the open-air theatre spectacle, created by C Basavalingaiah, it was compared to Brook’s Mahabharata. The play saw over a hundred shows.

Enthused by the response to Malegalalli Madumagalu, the Bengaluru chapter of the National School of Drama (NSD), is planning to adapt Vachana literature of 12thcentury Sharanas of the Lingayat movement to theatre. It would be a nine-hour nightlong production directed by C Basavalingaiah.

The previous Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah had earmarked Rs 75 lakh for this ambitious project. “But, the present BJP government is not showing any interest in supporting the play,” regrets Basavalingaiah. Basavalingaiah is greatly influenced by Peter Brook and he acknowledged it many times earlier. Speaking to News Trail, Basavalingiah said: “I had met Brook twice during my student days in NSD New Delhi. He conducted a two-day workshop for students of NSD then. He left an indelible impression on theatre students,” he said. Basavalingaiah said Brook was preparing to stage his Mahabharata at that time. “Later we watched a film on the theatre performance of Mahabharata in 1999 with B V Karanth, who organised the show. During his twoday visit, Brook conducted a two-day workshop for theatre activists and over 400 theatre enthusiasts participated in that event”, Basavalingaiah recalled.

Mahabharata impact Brook made Indians stop looking at Mahabharata from a colonial prism and understand it by reflecting on issues of gender and ecology. His Mahabharata carved a niche for itself for not adhering to any formalistic drama pattern. The scenic and theatrical differences in the play were carved out from the multiple lands and visions.

Renowned Indian classical dancer and actress Mallika Sarabhai essayed the role of Droupadi in his play. Indian theatre is deeply indebted to Brook for opening the space for reflecting on gender and ecological issues through Mahabharata production. He strongly believed that the transformation of the body and language is dependent on ecological and topographical issues.