Hayavadana

I recently decided to see a play at the Ranga Shankara theatre in Bangalore out of sheer boredom. It turned out to be a real interesting evening. I went in not expecting much, but boy was i surprised? The Ranga Shankara is Bangalore’s theatre supreme and is managed by Mrs Arundathi Nag. The theatre is an ode to the erstwhile actor Shankhar Nag. He was a man of many facets as seen in his oeuvre. He is amongst a few select people who have won national awards for acting (Ondanondu Kaaldalli) and directing (Accident). The Ranga Shankara premises are excellent and it is a true propagator of theatre to mainstream audiences as manifested by their ticket prices, Rs 50 and even better, the hall was air conditioned! What was even more remarkable was the punctuality and discipline maintained in the theatre. They started right on time and intervals were initiated with bells and there was no entry to all the latecomers. Brilliant, considering our attitude of swalpa adjust maadi!

The play was titled ‘Hayavadana’ and was written by Girish Karnad. The play was punctuated by some belligerent performances from the production house, The Benaka group. To give a brief outline of the play, it was the story of two friends; one a Kshathriya and a wrestler named Kapila and the other a learned Brahmin, Devadutta. They end up falling in love with the same woman, Padmini. Suspicion and drama climax with both of them ending up committing suicide at a Kali shrine. A distraught Padmini is saved of her suicide attempt by the appearance of Kali (A special mention to the actor who played the uber cool Kali). The two men are brought back to life by Kali, but with their heads transposed. Both men are extremely joyous at the result, much to the relief of Padmini. It seemed like they both desired each other’s strengths so much that they were least bothered by the absenteeism of their initial strengths. Kapila becomes Devadutta’s body and Devadutta becomes a wrestler and a man of knowledge. I could not understand why Kapila was celebrating as he lost his wrestlers body and gained the body of a Brahmin. It soon was clear that it was for Padmini, Kapila’s argument being she should go with the body of Devadutta rather than the head. An enraged Devadutta dispels Kapila with his swanky new wrestler body and they walk away to their house leaving a distraught Kapila; who goes into exile. The rest of the play focuses on how the bodies gradually transform to match their heads and how Padmini is left with discontentment. A parallel plot is also in the play, the story of a Hayavadana, a half horse half man who yearns to be complete. He finally becomes a complete horse rather than a complete man!

This play is the embodiment of incompleteness and fallacies, from all the characters involved. The title of the play is actually of the sub plot than the main play, an attempt to show fallacies exist in all facets? The differences between the two friends are brought out well in the initial part of the play. They both are very much human and incomplete as they are shown appreciating each other’s qualities throughout the play leading on to jealousy and suspicion. Padmini’s character that seemed to be shaping up well also exposes her inadequacies when she lusts after Kapila after the heads are transposed, culminating in her going to find solace in Kapila. Lord Ganesha is also brought on in the beginning of the play, a symbolic gesture in the play of the lord’s shortcomings as well, because of his elephant head and human body. The play of transposing heads actually implying transposing realities. The play poses a question as to the conflict we often face if to go with our head or our body characterized by Padmini’s dilemma, her choice of the head is in trend with social dogma of our times. The play also highlights man’s go-getting attitude to better oneself in spite of his limitations, as manifested by how the bodies adjust to their heads after being transposed. The comic relief was provided by the two talking dolls and Padmini’s son essayed brilliantly by some cute tots.

The style of the play was audience involving and very different from western theatre. It drew a lot from rural theatre. The play was laced with folk songs, although the lyrics were tough to understand. It was a narrative style wherein the Bhagavatharu (narrator) poses questions to the audience and involves them with the characters and the complexities they face. There seemed to be a lot of Yakshagana style music and dance involved in the play. Another dance form was the Byalata style. All in all it was an excellent play, production and evening made prolific by two of Karnataka’s theatre stalwarts. Thank you Mr Girish Karnad and Rangaguru B.V. Karanth!!