Staging Globalisation in Kolkata and Abroad
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Staging Globalisation in Kolkata and Abroad By Geir Heierstad Thesis presented for the partial fulfilment of the Cand. Polit. Degree in Social Anthropology University of Oslo 2003 Geir Heierstad Nandikar – Staging Globalisation in Kolkata and Abroad All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players William Shakespeare As You Like It (1974: 55-6) Picture: Nandikar’s dress rehearsal of the play Football, Sir in front. Front image: The icon is Nandikar’s logo and depicts a face, created for the group by film director Satyajit Ray. ii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I wish to thank Rudra-da, Swati-di and all the other theatre activists of Nandikar for making my world larger and richer. I hear what you are saying, but I am not sure if it was such a great loss for Bengali theatre that I went home. I know you don’t expect to say this, but anyway: anek dhonnobaad! I am also indebted to my supervisors Anne Waldrop and Sarah Lund for expressing enthusiasm and being helpful. To Børge, Gun, Ingunn, Lill and Ellen who have read through and commented various parts of my thesis – it was needed. At least, pizza makes Gollum disappear. And finally, a special thank to Bjørg, who approved my urge to go back to Kolkata for six months. In addition to accept the fact that I spent the following two years expecting everyone to show the same interest in ras, naatak, sthayi bhavas and similar subjects (that explain everything!) as I did. Let’s go skiing. iii Acknowledgments 1 Introduction..............................................................1 Scene 1............................................................................................................................................1 Scene 2............................................................................................................................................2 A Grounded Anthropology of Globalisation .................................................................3 Introducing Nandikar......................................................................................................5 Day-to-Day Engagements..........................................................................................................8 Outline.............................................................................................................................10 2 Images and Frames.................................................12 Data Images ....................................................................................................................12 Fieldwork .................................................................................................................................13 Method – General Modes of Yielding Data.............................................................................15 Kinds of Data.....................................................................................................................................16 Data Collection..................................................................................................................................18 Language ...........................................................................................................................................21 Ethical Considerations .............................................................................................................22 Theory Frames ...............................................................................................................22 The Globalisation Frame..........................................................................................................24 Globalisation in Short........................................................................................................................24 Globalisation as Hybridisation ..........................................................................................................25 Globalisation and Alternative Modernities........................................................................................28 Going Global with the Local .............................................................................................................30 The Practise Frame...................................................................................................................32 On Performance.................................................................................................................................32 The Site Frame.........................................................................................................................34 On Cityscapes....................................................................................................................................35 Summing Up ............................................................................................................................38 3 Bengali and Nandikar Theatre .................................39 On Theatre and Nandikar.............................................................................................39 A Very Short Kolkata Theatre Story ...........................................................................41 Jatra..........................................................................................................................................45 iv European Theatre .....................................................................................................................46 Sanskrit Theatre .......................................................................................................................47 Rabindranath Tagore................................................................................................................48 Nandikar .........................................................................................................................49 The History ..............................................................................................................................50 The Organisational Structure ...................................................................................................51 The Participants .......................................................................................................................51 The Economy ...........................................................................................................................53 The Plays..................................................................................................................................54 Today and Tomorrow...............................................................................................................55 Learning to Think and Do Theatre ..............................................................................58 4 Entering Shyambazaar ............................................61 Enter................................................................................................................................62 47/1 Shyambazaar Street...............................................................................................64 The Office – Administrative Nexus .........................................................................................65 The Dressing Room .................................................................................................................67 The Rehearsal Room – Artistic Nexus.....................................................................................68 Ras of the Room ................................................................................................................................69 A Global Junction ..........................................................................................................71 Leaving the Site, Entering the Practises...................................................................................72 5 Rehearsal Musicality ...............................................74 Leaving Traces in the Bodies ........................................................................................74 Just Another Day......................................................................................................................77 Acting Out................................................................................................................................80 Shakespeare in the Rehearsal Room..................................................................................................82 Body Control .....................................................................................................................................84 Emotion Surveys ...............................................................................................................................86 Shanu Roy Cowdury: Learning from the Learned .............................................................................93 Cooldown.................................................................................................................................95 The Pavement .................................................................................................................96 v 6 City Visibility ...........................................................99 Going to the Theatre ....................................................................................................100 Kolkata Images ......................................................................................................................101