Nil Darpan to Nabanna: The role of theatre in freedom struggle

Nil Darpan to Nabanna: The role of theatre in freedom struggle The arrival of the British in India changed theatre from a form of entertainment to a powerful space which saw colonial influence, political resistance, and cultural change.

Key points

• Nabanna is a Bengali language play written by Bijon Bhattacharya in 1944 and staged by the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) the same year.
• 'The Indigo Mirror') is a Bengali-language play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1859.
• Fun fact, 'Nil Darpan' was additionally the first play to be staged commercially at the National Theatre in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
• A street play being enacted by members of Jana Natya Manch during Bahurupi theatre festival in the City on Wednesday.
• A postage stamp commemorating the golden jubilee of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).

In practice, the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in action. Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

Theatre in British India saw colonial influences shaping and modernising plenty of practices involved in theatre as well as playwrights starting to apply the stage as a tool to stir a sense of communal nationalism among individuals, and showcase colonial exploitation through theatre. In this case, the stage became a site of cultural change as well as a battleground for freedom, identity, and power.

Notably, the East India Firm arrived in Calcutta in 1690, and they did not just bring their trade work and their infrastructure, they brought their culture with them – including their style of theatre.

In 1775, the Calcutta Theatre was established, and it would stage Shakespearean tragedies and Restoration dramas (English plays written and performed after the Puritan era) for the British officers and their families. Even the Bengali elites were fascinated by these plays. They were exposed to western aesthetics and educated in the English language. Shortly, they began to adopt these styles to their own plays.

Gradually, by the mid-19th Century, Parsi theatre came regarding. It was a commercial theatrical tradition run by the Parsi business communities in Bombay. It was a fusion of European staging and stage technology with Indian music, melodrama, and storylines. Shakespearean plays like 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Hamlet' were adapted in this manner. It was performed in Gujarati and Urdu and troupes were performing throughout cities and small towns, thereby reaching even non-elite audiences.

In practice, a street play being enacted by members of Jana Natya Manch during Bahurupi theatre festival in the City on Wednesday. Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

Around that same time, Indian theatre became a tool for protesting against colonial rule. The 1859 Bengali play 'Nil Darpan' – which indicated the exploitation of indigo farmers – was one of the earliest examples of such theatre. From there began a notion of exploring colonial exploitation, nationalism, and revolution through theatre, and so more such plays began to emerge in numerous languages. Playwrights like Bhartendu Harishchandra, Krishnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar, and Padmanath Gohain Baruah wrote plays that showcased colonial exploitation, and supported to ignite a unified nation.

In practice, the British did not take to this employ of theatre highly kindly. And so, they enacted the Dramatic Performances Act, 1876, to put an end to these revolutionary plays and further police the theatre scene. Administration scrutiny produced individuals more careful concerning what they staged as the British administration could ban plays they considered scandalous or obscene – which in their own words meant anti-colonial.

But that didn't stop playwrights from calling out the administration through their plays. Rather, they went for more subtle and indirect methods to still maintain that nationalist energy, rather than any direct jabs.

For context, the British tried to dismiss Indian theatre forms, calling them 'primitive' and deeming them inferior. Royal courts that Sanskrit dramas, lost their power. Temples that staged devotional performances lost their funds. The British were forcing their art, thinking, and values on to the Indians. They wanted to have the theatrical imagination their way.

Gymkhana clubs came to be, especially in urban areas like Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. They were recreational areas for sport and social interaction, and they occasionally staged amateur troupes performing Shakespearean plays and English comedies. One such was the Bombay Gymkhana club, established in 1875. Indian audiences were excluded, barring the elites. But that was done for assimilation, not inclusivity.

But of course, despite all attempts to suppress tradition, India's traditional theatre continued to thrive alongside the modern way of the stage. Now let us look at some plays that sparked revolution on the major stage.

Meanwhile, a postage stamp commemorating the golden jubilee of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). PHOTO: THE HINDU ARCHIVES Photo Credit: PIB.

Regional theatre Regional theatre additionally largely contributed to India's anti-colonial and nationalistic energy. Here's a list of MORE plays in various languages that supported. Marathi: 'Keechak-Wadh' (1906) by Krishnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar. 'Jhansichya Raniche Naatak' (1870) by Vishnudas Bhave. Tamil: 'Baratham' and 'Desiya Kodi' (both 1942) by Mathanavelu Pillai. 'Kadharin Vettri' (1922) by T. P. Krishnasamy Pavalar. Assamese: 'Karengar Ligiri' (1927) by Jyotiprasad Agarwala. 'Lachit Barphukan' (1915) by Padmanath Gohain Barua. Kannada: 'Lankadahana' (circa 1919) by Garud Sadashivarao.

Nil Darpan (lit. 'The Indigo Mirror') is a Bengali-language play written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1859. The play centres around Goluk Chander Bose, a peasant, and his family. This person are caught up in the oppressive indigo plantation system. As well as starvation, it indicated how badly they were exploited, forced to sign unfair contracts, going through manipulation from the office-holders. Notably, the play ends on a less than happy note where nothing is resolved for the family, highlighting the harsh realities of the system with no way out of the unending debt cycle.

After some planters and pro-planter individuals maintained that the play defamed them, interestingly, it was translated into English by Michael Madhusudan Dutta and James Long, and the latter was taken to court.

Oh Indigo! You came to this land for our utter ruin. Ah! I cannot any more suffer this torture. I cannot say how plenty of other Factories there are of this Concern. Within this one month-and-a-half, I have already drunk the water of fourteen Factories; and I do not know in what Factory I am nowA farmer singing his woes of the Indigo plantationA translated excerpt from Nil Darpan (1859). Nil Darpan Photo Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Nabanna is a Bengali language play written by Bijon Bhattacharya in 1944 and staged by the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) the same year. It covers the Bengal famine of 1943, and it indicated much more to the famine than just a shortage of food.

In the play, the Samnadar family move to Calcutta after a tidal wave wipes away everything they have. There is a portrayal of class difference as the upper middle class is unwilling to support them with their struggles. Towards the end, they return to the village with a collective sense of resilience alongside other farmers like them.

Nabanna not only created the famine a distant news item, but additionally, it was one of the plays that shifted theatre from commercial entertainment to activist-driven collective theatre. The play additionally generated lakhs of funds for famine relief when the IPTA staged this as a part of their Voice of Bengal festival.

""I know Pradhan that there are apprehensions in your mind, but keep this in mind that unlike last time, the tough times will not be able to creep in and snatch away my relations; friends; here, all you are my friends and family. No, never again. If it wants to harm them, first, it will have to face me, kill me. It will have to overthrow our solidarity. Only then it may succeed.""Dayal, the neighbour, reassuring farmer Pradhan against the backdrop of the famineA translated excerpt from Nabanna.

Theatre was never just a mirror of the times, but additionally a wake up call for the residents of India, and a place where freedom was portrayed, fought for, and felt. All the censorship could not silence the question that individuals ask even today, "What does freedom mean for us?"

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In short, nil Darpan to Nabanna: The role of theatre in freedom struggle is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.