Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-30T13:21:31.358Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Building from Tagore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2021

Sombhu Mitra
Translated by
Samik Bandyopadhyay
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

An important element in the development of the arts in modern India has been the search for uniquely Indian modes. In theatre, this has led to some experimentation with traditional genres. Sombhu Mitra, the distinguished Bengali actor-director, believes that there are distinctively Indian theatrical values and argues that these can only be realized through a creative engagement with the work of Rabindranath Tagore. For a different view, see the interview with Utpal Dutt (pp. 225-37 of this issue).—AJG

I have felt an affinity with Tagore's Raja (The King of the Dark Chamber) since I was very young, even before I understood its meaning. Later I read the play to many people, and I could see that it moved them too. But when I produced it with the Bohurupee Company, some remarked that it lacked the dramatic strength of my earlier production, Oedipus Rex. Oedipus has conflict, suspense, and tension; Raja hasn't.

Type
Tradition and the Modern Theatre
Information
The Drama Review , Volume 15 , Issue 2: Theatre in Asia , Spring 1971 , pp. 201 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © 1971 The Drama Review

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)