Lest we Forget Series - 5 - Bertolt Brecht

Fast heavy feminine breathing sound amplified through the speakers, a stage that is drenched in red light, and the sudden screaming of a male character. This is what I remember from the drama which I had seen in my school days. The title of the drama is Brahamarakshu, a stage production which dealt with the usual trope of a woman taking revenge on her abusers. Watching the drama was an extension of the childhood memories of listening to the elders discussing ghosts and supernatural tales which was the only time when children were hooked to the otherwise boring discussions about money and business. Brahamarakshu and other demonic figures are part of the collective memory of every child India. This morning I read about an article about the way Bengali women were looked upon as enchantresses by Bihari women who believed that their husbands who went to Bengal for work were trapped by these sorceresses.  The media/digital memories of Sushant Rajput and Rhea Chakraborty episode has rekindled this cultural memory involving Biharis and Bengalis. Bengal like Kerala was a place which was known for its leftist theatrical productions. Badal Sircar was part of my syllabus and I remember trying to make head and tail out of his play Evam Indrajit. When I shifted to Chennai for my studies and to earn a livelihood, drama became a powerful influence in my life. I remember watching Girish Karnad's - ‘Heap of Broken Images directed by Alyque Padamsee. It was a great feeling to see the director himself seated in a row just behind me watching his play. During the MA days, my classmates had performed the Doll’s house. The most recent theatrical presentation which I had seen was the stage adaptation of K.R. Meera's Bhagavante Maranam during the Kozhikode Literature Festival 2020. The play is based on the killings of M.M Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. I also dabbled in a stage production when I was in MCC. The play was tilted - Man - An awakening and it was inspired by the Diaries of Anne Frank. One of my students who was part of the crew is now a famous theatre personality in Chennai. His name is Varun Aiyar. He has gone beyond the conventional boundaries of a theatre or stage. Thanks to Dr Archana of Anna Adarsh, I was able to reconnect with Varun a few months ago. As I look back at my memories related to theatre, I can see that it has moved from the trivial to the social, from the emotional to the rational. The need to develop a conscience has become a priority. Theater heavily relies on memory and it helps us to remember the past and it speaks to the future. It was in M.A I came across this play - Mother Courage and Her Children by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht. I have seen his ideas at play in the theatre productions of Jesuit brothers in my hometown, in the street theatre projects organized by the department of MSW at Loyola. Theatre is one way to cultivate critical thinking skills among both teachers and students. Lest we Forget Bertolt Brecht whose death anniversary is today.