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11. BRECHT IN WEST BENGAL
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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BRECHTI NWES TBENGA L SekharChatterje e India,particularl yWes tBenga lwher ew ecom efrom , needsBertol tBrech tmost .Th ereaso ni smor epolitica l thanliterary .Th eWes tBenga ltheatre ,i ncontras tt oth e resto fIndia ,i son ehundre dpe rcen tpolitical .Wes t Bengalha sa lon gtradito n- a revolutionaryheritag ewhic h grewdurin gth etw ohundre dyear so fforeig nrule .A societywhic hi sridde nwit hunemployment ,exploitatio n andcorruptio ni sboun dt olea dth epeopl et o disillusionmentan dfrustration . Wehav etw okind so ftheatr e- on ei sth ecommercia l andth eothe ri sth enon-professiona lo rlef ttheatre .Ther e areabou tfiftee ncommercia ltheatre si nCalcutta .The y arejus tcommercia lan dproduc estupi dplay san dar efas t driftingtoward sporn otheatre .W eshal lno tdiscus sthem . Weshal ldiscus sth elef ttheatr eonly .Ther ear eabou t 6000theatr egroup si nWes tBenga lalone ,mostl y non-professional.Wes tBengal ,th elan do fRabindranat h Tagore,ha sa ric hcultura lheritage .Bu tth eprosceniu m theatrei sno tou rown .W eborrowe di tfro mth eWest .I n theancien tpas tw eha dou row ntheatre ,th eVedi ctheatr e orth etempl etheatre ,whic hi sobsoletetoday . Ourprosceniu mtheatr ei sonl ya hundre dod dyear s old.I tstarte dunde rth einfluenc eo fShakespear ean dth e playswer emostl yhistorical ,religion-base do rfarce s influencedb yMoliSre .An dthi stheatr ebelonge d exclusivelyt oth eric hfeuda llord san dth ehigher-up si n society.I mus tmentio ntha tou rsociet yi sstil la feuda l one.Ou reconom yi sagriculture-base dan d80 %o fth e populationlive si nth evillages .Th eworkers ,th epeasant s andmillion so funemploye dhav ebee nlivin gbelo wth e povertyline . Brechti nWes tBenga l 139 Withthi sbackground ,th elef ttheatr egre wu pi nth e 1940s- unde rth eguidanc eo fth eCommunis tPart yo f India.I twa sth ecultura lfron to fth ePart yan dwa scalle d theIndia nPeoples 'Theatrica lAssociation .A ne wcultura l movementgre wup ,son gsquads ,danc egroup san do f coursetheatr egroups .The yal lbase dthei rtheme so nth e lifean dstruggl eo fth epeople .Thes egroup stoure dcities , districtsan dvillage san dgav eperformance si npolitica l meetings,followin go rpreceedin gspeeche sb yleaders .I t spreadver yrapidl yan dha dbranche san droot sal love r India.A ne wculture ,a ne wliterature ,a ne wtheatr ewa s born.An di nte nyear stim ei tovertoo kth eexistin gfeuda l culture. Itwa sonl yafte rth eTwentiet hCongres si nMosco w thatth eCommunis tPart yo fIndi aspli ti ntwo .Th eIndia n Peoples'Theatrica lAssociatio ndisintegrated .Politic s wereutterl yconfused...