AMIDST THE tall claim of owning a spine, there are some who have it but never claim it. They blow apart everything that so-called titans of disciplines worship and swear by, and on top of that, they do it in the very courtrooms of entire empires standing on mere assumptions. They don’t blabber endlessly but say, “The proof is in the pudding, and everyone’s invited to taste the truth.”
For decades, they ruthlessly classified the work of theatre activists into national and regional. They had their own definitions of national and regional, and their own grading card that put so-called national way up the pedestal over the so-called regional. They also bound what they defined as national theatre in the barriers of language — feeling blissfully happy in arresting it within Hindi or English, thereby stabbing theatre itself in its guts repeatedly.
A man powered by the electricity of the volume of his work blew all the above apart, and brought with him the proof so missing from the discussions earlier. He made a kill, and he made it in three clean strokes.
l What the titans call regional is actually theatre of audience, the people.
l The audience of so-called regional is self-motivated, not the grab-the-free-invitation, chomp-the-snack, and good-times-and-lives creatures.
l It’s the language of the culture that reflects the stories of the place. It can’t be held in the barriers of Hindi and English.
Alakhnandan has explored various dialects of Hindi such as Chhattisgarhi, Bundeli, Bagheli and Bundelkhandi, to communicate with his audiences in different pockets of the country.
His adaptations of classics, such as Waiting for Godot in Chhattisgarhi as Gauda La Dekhat Han, highlights his desire to present the best of the world for his audience in their own languages. “The aim of rangmanch is to initiate meaningful communication among the subjects, performers and the audiences. It has to be more simplified, not as a verb or a method; but as a subject. It must touch issues which matters to the viewer and make them the part of the performance,” says a Bhopal-based director, playwright and poet.
He stresses, “The basic cycles of life can’t change, they can only assimilate changes. The concept of test-tube babies have not reduced the nurturing period of nine months in the mother’s womb. Similarly, the first requirement theatre should meet is it to communicate. The stories of a culture are observable by inspecting the vocabulary of that culture. The mode of communication is primary and technicalities and experiments are secondary.”
Alakhnandan strongly rejects the need of recognition from any authority or “big-city banners”. “The concept of national recognition is a conspiracy of people who want to limit theatre to the urban and elite class. The only recognition of any performing art is the audience. If the play is on the stage and it’s drawing its share of audience, it is recognised. I have seen plays in the villages of Maharashtra and Punjab with packed audiences even on festive days. Now, this is called the success of theatre.”
Alakhnandan calls himself a reader when it comes to his actors and crew. “I treat my actors like a book and myself as a reader. I keep flipping pages to bring out texts required to unveil the subtext of my plays,” says the director who draws his inspiration from bahrupiya (the impressionist) and wants to relive all his characters. His commitment for theatre is unquestionable. In the 80’s, when Alakhnandan parents passed away, it was the day of his production. He chose to perform on the stage first and then travel to perform the last rites.
Alakhnandan co-founded Rangmandal, Bharat Bhavan’s professional repertory, with eminent theatre personality B.V. Karanth to create a sustained theatre movement that becomes a way of life rather than spasmodic activity. His contribution to the filed of children theatre is also remarkable.
Alakhnandan is a storyteller. His stories nestle within the body and bring forth the soul. His characters look straight into the eyes of his audiences and together they compose moments and experiences. Stage is his medium to attain happiness for all — the creator, the performer and the audience.