Dialogues under the scanner

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This time, it was the turn of college students to face backlash from college authorities for performing a play at the annual fest of Jamia Millia Islamia which had dialogues in crass and abusive language. Ramjas College’s play Saints and Sinners was stopped midway when the judges watching it felt that it violated the code of the college because of the “foul” language being used.
Students involved in theatre say that it’s not the first time something like this has happened. Aakash Gupta, a student of Bhagat Singh college, says that recently a street play by IP College wasn’t allowed to be performed at a competition, as it was based on sedition. “The organisers thought the judge who was a BJP leader may get offended,” adds Aakash, also talking about Asmita Theatre’s Operation Three Star that is banned in many states as it ridicules the police.
But the college that performed the play justifies their stand. Rahul Tewari, a theatre artist and a recent pass-out from the college, who was involved in the play, says that the language used in it was intrinsic to the plot. “The play is set in a small village of Uttar Pradesh, in an alcohol joint. It’s the story of four characters representing four emotions — fear, greed, indifference and pride. Whatever we have used in the play is required,” remarks Rahul and says that they anticipated that authorities of some colleges might have issues with the content. “Keeping that in mind, we followed protocol and were in touch with the coordinator before the fest. Stopping the play mid-way was wrong,” he says.
Theatre activists think these things happen because of the cultural variation and generation gap. “It specially happens with college students as they are often judged by the seniors. College students are thought to be immature and inexperienced and thus when they try to experiment, they often come under the radar of critics. But slowly, the change is being accepted as youngsters are becoming the agents of change,” says Trishala Shandilya, a theatre and social activist.
However, students think that change should seep in soon as the longer it takes, the more the frustration among youngsters grows.
“At least we shouldn’t be stopped mid-way. There should be some creative freedom given to us considering we are going on stage to send across a message. Theatre is not just a medium to entertain but to bring a change,” says Punarbhava Banik, a theatre artist and student of Gargi college.