Prachyanat stages “Raja…Ebong Annanyo”

Actors of Prachyanat in Raja…Ebong Annanyo (left); Afsana Mimi as Sudarshana.Photo: Amirul Rajiv

Theatre troupe Prachyanat staged their much-awaited production Raja…Ebong Annanyo (King of the Dark Chamber...and others) on March 4. The premier show was held at the British Council Auditorium where the audience witnessed an experimental, contemporary and innovative theatrical presentation of the classic Tagore play Raja (1910).
Tagore's Raja depicts a utopia where the presence of the King is felt only through the peace, harmony and disciplined life of the denizens. Unlike other men of power, the King never shows off. In fact, he is never seen anywhere in the country.
But the Queen Sudarshana, who is allowed to meet the King in a dark chamber, cannot control her curiosity to see the king. The King agrees to reveal himself at the spring festival, but the condition is that she has to recognise him. Biased by her overwhelming emotions and superficial temptations, the queen takes a decoy for the King. This brings disaster, war and destruction to the country. In the end, just as fire purifies gold, Sudarshana is finally able to understand the King.
Without changing the original story, Azad Abul Kalam, director of the play treats the classic with a new approach and tries to portray the omnipresent King as a metaphor against the contemporary world of chaos, exploitation and imperialism.
“The King in Tagore's play comes to us not as a protector of a utopia, but as a desired redeemer. From this desire, we venture to present Tagore's Raja in a contemporary context, so that we can relate more to the play,” the director said.
Thus, in the Prachyanat version of the play, the King utopia is juxtaposed to our time, on the same stage we see Sudarshana, the Queen; Surangama, the royal maid; Thakurda, the intellectual mouthpiece of the King and the zombies who can be related to any 'hip' characters on the streets of Dhaka speaking in an 'English induced Bangla'. The group of visiting Kings from other lands in the original play become the faces we see everyday on the countless TV channels whose agitated gibberish are now recognised at 'buzzwords' like 'terrorism', 'conspiracy', 'democracy' etc. The decoy of the King, 'Suborno' is no more than a political gimmick. The English-speaking character Kanchiraj looks like a cowboy from a Western epic, representing the American imperialism.
The use of multimedia is taken as a theatrical device as Prachyanat calls their production “Multimedia Theatre”. According to Azad Abul Kalam, “Multimedia Theatre” involves two different narratives simultaneously shown on the stage through the performance of the theatre actors and a digital presentation. While the theatrical performance shows some particular complexities in the characters' lives, the projector creates an ambiance so that the whole scene is relatable to the global reality.
Afsana Mimi, a guest actor (not a member of Prachyanat), was remarkable as Queen Sudarshana. Rubaiya Manzur as Surangama, Tapan Majumdar as Suborno, Shatabdi Wadud as Kanchiraj, Sakhawat Hossain Rezvi as Thakurda and others were also credible in their roles.
The play featured quite a few song and dance sequences. Original Tagore songs were subjected to Kaartik's innovative music arrangement, which included rap music. The dance sequences shifted from classical to hip hop. The inclusion of ballet was also interesting. However, at almost two and half hours, the production is quite extensive; too lengthy according to some in the audience.
Set and light designs were by Saiful Islam and Snata Shareen's choreography was innovative.
Raja…Ebong Annanyo is Prachyanat's 14th production. “The play received both positive and negative responses, as some people don't want to see changes in a Tagore play. Some found it quite unique and moving,” said the director after the show.