For 37 years now, actor-director-playwright Usha Ganguly has been creating social awakening on issues that she believes connect the world together.
As if burning with the spirit of the times, through her plays she wishes to play a part in the transformation of the whole of existence. Plays are an X-ray of the social situation, she says. With acclaimed productions like Rudali, MahaBhoj, Court Martial, Antaryatra, lok Katha and Hum Mukhtara in her repertoire, she is mostly regarded as the only theatre director other than thespian Shyamanand Jalan to have made a mark in Hindi theatre in the predominantly Bengali speaking Kolkata, spreading to the rest of the country. Ganguly’s work has impressed audiences in large parts of America, Europe and Asia. But despite having one of the richest bodies of plays, India has no place in world theatre, she laments. Excerpts of her interview:
What is your approach as a directorIJ
The Greek word theatre means ‘the seeing place’. It is the place where people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. I do not like to produce poster plays but evolve stories from around the world. I have been careful not to repeat selection and treatment of texts. I love adapting short stories and novels. Also, I believe in giving space to younger directors whom I often invite to direct me and other senior actors.
And which young director has impressed you the mostIJ
In Bengal, there is a young director called Suman Mukherjee whose work I really like because he creates a different language in theatre. I believe that onstage, actors create a new language that transcends all dialects. For example, in my plays abroad, I have often observed that spectators do not read subtitles because the actors create a universal medium of communicating the meaning.
How active is women’s theatre movement in IndiaIJ
I do not believe in the concept of women’s theatre for I feel it is a trap. Making a category like women’s theatre is treating women as a weaker section. However, there is also a second dimension to it -- women in India are the most exploited section; so I take them as an important social subject and try to do more and more plays on women’s issues.
How did theatre happen to youIJ
Having finished school at the age of 15, I had a year to join college and it was during this intermission that I began to read world literature and got fascinated by legends like Tolstoy, Austen, Manto, Premchand and Kabir. Kabir’s writings influenced me a lot in my personal life as well.That truly was the initiation of my life-long romance with theatre. I started teaching in a college in 1970 and founded Rangkarmee six years later. It was smooth in the beginning, but a few years later, as my time commitment to theatre increased, I did have to face the challenge of balancing home with work; juggling roles as a wife, a daughter-in-law and a mother with Rangkarmee. 24 hours a day have proven to be very inadequate for me! I feel one of the saddest maladies of our country is that women are expected to be only a part-time workers.
What is your biggest challenge as a directorIJ
To knit the entire team together with the same level of inspiration about the creativity of what they’re doing; I am like an oarsman giving a common direction and momentum to the group on board. I attach a lot of importance to detail as a result of which most of my plays take around six months to get ready.
Is it true that most of the actors in your plays are amateursIJ
I love to work with talented and dedicated amateur actors. They are like a lump of clay that I can shape instead of big-league acting school products with their prejudice, biases and preconceived notions. We are one of the very few Indian theatre groups to get much acclaim across the world and most of my actors are untrained youngsters who come to me raw.
Has India made its mark in world theatreIJ
The world knows nothing about Indian theatre though we have a very rich body of multi-cultural plays in so many different languages. The reason is that there is no government support in our country to take our theatre abroad. Only very few groups like those of Ratan Thiyam, Neelam Mansingh, sometimes Rangkarmee and NSD get some space. Indian government agencies ignore theatre while promoting dance and music.As a committee member of Sangeet Natak Acedemy, National School of Drama and ICCR, I often raised this issue but to no avail.
Has there been any change in the presence of female directors in Indian theatre in the past few yearsIJ
The presence of female directors in India has changed completely in the past 20 years. Women are very active in theatre in India now.We have talented women directors in almost every language theatre even in far-flung places like Manipur. In Delhi, there are Anuradha Kapur, Kirti Jain, Anamika Haksar, Neena Maansingh in Punjab; Vijayshree in Karnataka and so many more.
Women are now actively participating in all backstage activities from doing costumes to writing scripts and even sound and light.The one work that you have not adapted as yet, but would love to…Any play of William Shakespeare!
What does theatre mean to youIJ
Without theatre I shall have no identity and no longing for life.