The Russia of 1901 was brilliantly showcased on stage when the students of Madhya Pradesh School of Drama (MPSD) performed play ‘Talghar’. The play was performed at Bharat Bhavan here on Wednesday under the class presentation of MPSD.
Talghar is a play adopted from the drama witten by Maxim Gorky. Gorky wrote the play ‘The lower Depths’ that was all about revolution in Russia. The play was directed by a renowned playwright of the city Alok Chhatterjee and was presented by the students of MPSD batch 2017-18.
Alok Chhatterjee said that The lower Depths is perhaps the best known of Maxim Gorky's plays. It was written during the winter of 1901. Subtitled “Scenes from Russian life,” it depicted a group of impoverished Russians living in a shelter near the Volga.
The characters of The lower Depths are said to have been inspired by the denizens of the Bugrov Homeless Shelter in Nizhny Novgorod, which had been built in 1880–83 by the Old Believer grain merchant and philanthropist Nikolai Alexandrovich Bugrov in 1837–1911 in memory of his father, AP Bugrov.
Produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18, 1902, Konstantin Stanislavski directed and starred. It became his first major success, and a hallmark of Russian social realism.
The theme of harsh truth versus the comforting lie pervades the play from start to finish, as most of the characters choose to deceive themselves over the bleak reality of their condition.
The stage backdrop and the costumes took the audience back into 1901 as it was presented with such reality. The direction was flawless and the actors gave their best efforts to make the audience glue to their seats. It was a beautiful presentation of Maxim Gorky’s The lower Depths.