|
Kalyan
Banerjee arrived in Toronto in 1969. He came from Calcutta and among
the various talents and interests he brought to this country was
a passion for theatre. He produced his first Bengali play in Toronto
in 1977, and since 1979 has added a play a year to his repertory.
As
impresario, director, producer and actor, he has become a cultural
leader in the local Bengali community and an important link with
the broader mosaic of cultures among which it lives. Although Banerjee
is an amateur and his theatre life is purely avocation, creating
a theatrical event is a serious professional commitment. The source
of this commitment and the training that gives it vitality is the
cultural life of his home city, Calcutta.
Calcutta
has been a creative centre for artistic and intellectual endeavor
since the days of the Hindu renaissance in the early 19th century.
Building on traditional forms, but open to influence from other
cultures, drama became an important part of this activity - a medium
which could be shared by popular and elite audiences for education
and entertainment.
In
the eighteenth century David Garrick, the famed British actor brought
conventional drama, as it was known in England, to the city that
would become the capital of Britain's empire in the East. He brought,
as well, a cultural link with the West that remains firm and vital
to the present day.
Nineteenth-century
companies, both amateur and professional, generally performed without
benefit of a stage or theatre in Calcutta. An open space served
the purpose and plays were developed from familiar devotional writings
and the great epic stories: Ramayana and Mhabharat.
Over time, other forms and styles brought variety, depths and disciplines
to the production.
Mythological
plays always carried a moral lesson. Social dramas gave instructions
and manners in lifestyle, including a reformist message calling
for the end of certain practices and prejudices that constrained
progressive development. During the long period of British rule
in India, and especially during the period of nationalist struggle,
politics penetrated the theatre.
National
awakening, freedom for foreign rule, unity and independence became
the favorite themes of Bengali dramatists. The modern Bengali drama
remains a vital part of contemporary cultural life both in its home
state and throughout India.
A recent
development has been the establishment of drama competitions in
South Calcutta. Each year, during a winter week, fifty to one hundred
amateur group sponsored by various clubs and societies participate
in this popular theatre festival. Four or five play, each about
thirty minutes in performance time, are presented every night in
the open-air theatre. Chairs, lights and a great shamiana (a cloth,
open-sided tent) are rented and a temporary stage is constructed.
The
plays may be original or adaptations of longer plays, books, or
traditional themes. Their source may be Bengali, Indian in general,
or Western, but they are always performed in the Bengali language.
Well-known playwrights may participate directly or indirectly through
adaptation. This is also an occasion for the amateur dramatist to
see his work performed, perhaps for the first time.
The
organizers of the competition will choose a group of judges among
people well known for their taste and knowledge for the theatre,
and prizes are awarded in various categories: best play, actor,
director, music. There is always a musical accompaniment and occasionally
a singer where appropriate for the play.
The
Akanka Natak Pratijogita (play competition) has given thousands
of theatre lovers, actors, writers and musicians the opportunity
to share a great cultural event and to share as well in international
connection which links them with the cultures of other societies.
The local playwright Tagore shared the Bengali stage with Pirandello,
Brecht and Isben.
It
is this traditional commitment to intellectual and cultural activity
which Bengali Canadians have brought with them. It remains a part
of their transplanting society and is becoming as well, a part of
their own developing Canadian cultural tradition. And it was the
Akanka Natak Pratijogita of South Calcutta that Kalyan Banerjee
received his first opportunity to act and be part of a play. Nine
thousand miles away, the play still goes on.
In
1977 Banerjee staged his first Canadian production, a play entitled
For Tomorrow. He was asked to do this by younger members
of the Toronto Bengali community. The play was written by one of
Banerjee's cousins, S. Chakravarty, and was first performed in the
Calcutta competition in 1962. It was performed in Toronto in English
translation, which Banerjee prepared in collaboration with a Canadian
friend.
top
|
This
experiment in cultural transplanting required a month of rehearsals
and a half hour to perform. It also showed that Bengalis could include
this additional dimension - the transplantation of their theatres
- in their cultural life in Canada.
In
1979 Banerjee's "other career" began in earnest. He staged a production
of a popular Bengali satirical drama by Utpal Dutta, Gum Nei
(No Sleep). The joys and troubles of a truck-driver's life are used
here to comment on the problem of police production and the burden
of the thousands of refugees who came to India from East Pakistan
(Bangladesh) after the war.
More
than three hundred of the three thousand members of the local Bengali
community attended the performances. But the enthusiastic response
was especially significant from the actors - all amateurs, although
some with experience with theatre in Bengal. These doctors, lawyers,
accountants, clerks and housewives soon began to compete for larger
roles and participate in all aspects of production. Banerjee's wife,
Debi, was a reluctant actress, but she too had joined the company
of performers.
more info...(36k)
In
1980 Banerjee and his group of actors performed Bertolt Brecht's
Three Penny Opera. It had been adapted for the Bengali theatre
by the well-known Bengali dramatist, Ajitesh Banerji, and Kalyan
Banerjee had attended its first Calcutta performance in the mid-sixties.
Tin Paiser Pala was not simply a translation of Brecht's
work. The story, style and themes were given an Indian setting and
in this way, Bengali audiences were able to make the play their
own.
In
1982 Banerjee produced a particularly challenging play, Tiner
Talwar (The Tin Sword). The setting is the great uprising of
1857 and the story describes the efforts of a Calcutta drama group
who wished to demonstrate that Bengalis were vital and strong and
able to fight against the British. The play was written in the late
sixties. Banerjee consulted a professional tour group from Calcutta
and was advised that Tiner Talwar was too difficult for an
amateur group. He ignored the advice, however, and with a cast of
thirty actors and ten musicians put on a very successful performance.
As with all the other plays the costumes were either bought in India
or made in Toronto.
Preparation
for a new play generally begins in the late summer with regular
weekly rehearsals starting in October or November. They are usually
on a Sunday and the group of actors gather in homes or a small hall
rented for a few hours. Although there are some community members
who are regular participants, each year and each play brings changes
to the company. The production cost for each play averages between
$800 and $1000, and the income from ticket sales generally allows
them to cover this cost after five years there is a small credit
in the company's account.
The
plays are presented in school auditoriums, most recently at Scarlett
Heights Collegiate in Etobicoke. The flyers announcing the performance
are passed out at various community event or placed in car windows.
There is usually some advertising done on community radio programs
as well.
The
Bengali community of Toronto is small and is spread throughout the
city. It has, however, established institutions which have enabled
community members to share and celebrate traditional festivals and
culture. Prabasi and the Bengali Cultural Association maintain a
library and a meeting-place.
The
annual Durga Puja remains, even in exotic Toronto a major community
event, and Rabindra Jayanti (the birth of Tagore) is remembered
each year - sometimes with the performance of a play. Kalyan Banerjee's
plays have added another dimension to Bengali community life another
opportunity to gather together to celebrate their traditional culture
and the new life they are creating in Canada for themselves and
for generations to come.
|
