RENOVATION of TRADITION (AKHRA)

 

ALT at Jhargram for understanding Macbeth 

India has the longest and richest tradition in Theater going back to at list 500 years. Natyasastra written by Bharatmuni in between 2000 B.C-4^th Century A.D was the earliest and most elaborate treatise on dramas. The traditional account in Natyasastra gives a divine origin to Indian Theatre attributing it to Panchaveda, a combination of 4 Vedas created by Lord Bramha. Theatre in India started as a narrative form- reciting, singing, dancing and acting was an integral part of this Theatre.  The first phase of Indian Theatre are the Folk and Traditional Theatre. These were mainly singing and recitation-based and did not accompany any complicated gestures of movements and elements of dance.

Live music creation for Theatre performance by ALT

A few examples of this type of Theatre are Rasleela, Ramleela and Nautanki. The second phase of the evolution of Theatre in India is Sanskrit phase which were mainly based on Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas and semi-historical place; they were based strictly based on the rules led out by ancient dramatic traits. The 200 years of British rule brought the Indian Theatre to the direct contact with Western Theatre giving birth to the modern or proscenium style of Theatre. This took over to Folk form of Theatre which continued to survive. Various Theatre group in India are working towards giving it a new look by blending together the traditional and modern elements of Theatre.

(AKHRA)

“Akhra” has grown up in North 24 Pargana district formed by the group Alternative Living

Probir Guha, The Director &  Script Writer of ALT

Theatre. It is situated in Madhyamgram, Ramakrishna Pally. ‘Alternative Living Theatre’- the name of different way of living life by theatre. The plot has two main sections. 1st section is known as “Gol-Ghor” (round space), where members of ALT rehearse their performances and many Theatre Artists across the globe come to ALT to perform and share their views to the members. Second section is a L- shaped home where they store their props and sometimes enthusiast members live there too. They are looking forward to transform Gol-Ghor into a Daily Show afterward. According to the ideology of ALT, the members consider Theatre as a weapon to express their social-political strata. In 2008, Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee winner and the architecture of the popular theatre group ALT Probir Guha guides his members with extensive care, just like potter gives shapes to the clay,

Rehearsal at Golghar by ALT

 Probir Guha makes his artists in this way. This theatre  not only speaks about acting or expressing talents but it also teaches how to be a human with proper Humanity. To protest against the social and political issues with different aspects is the main motto of ALT. Probir Guha thinks that Body movement or gestures is the main language which has no barriers, everybody may not be able to understand every human languages. ALT is driven by the thought of reaching people with higher quality theatre in less expense. This kind of theatre adopts some of the concepts of 3rd theatre. ’The world is the stage’ is the slogan of ALT as they do not need so called stage setup to perform but they create their stage by their performances.

ALT at Jhargram for understanding Macbeth

Sometimes using folding or movable stage system. They select their topic of plays from real events then they decide plots and arrange the whole story by discussions where every member is free to give their opinions. Nowadays, the locality is getting more populated so the atmosphere of ALT also facing the noise. After finalizing the concepts they explore barren lands or no man's lands and live there in tents for their real life experience for the story. They think fresh air and silence can bring greater objective to them. Just like saints go for meditation to fulfill their wishes, the members follow the same for their performances. After making the concept outline

Rehearsal at Golghar by ALT

they go straight to “Akhra” in Madhyamgram, for rehearsal to fulfill the concept body. Apart from acting section, ALT uses both recorded and live music produced by both musicians and group members. Creativity section partly designs the props like masks used in stage, interior designs, and dresses excluding purchased materials. Just like, crisis makes a man perfect, after conquering over so many hurdles, now Alternative Living Theatre has its own proud voice. It’s only the beginning of ALT to continue their breath-taking experiment in their every performance.

 (Reported and Images by Subhojit Ghosh & Written by Ayana Chatterjee )