Megha Aryan, OP
In the era of microphones, computers and scientific gadgets, a man from Assam, Sukracharjya Rabha, came up with the unique idea to bring the world close to nature. Rabha is the founder of the popular theatre festival ‘Under the Sal tree’ in 2009, which is conducted in the Sal forest of Assam.
The arrangement of the open air theatre is made inside the forest close to Rampur village, 5 km off Agia, in Assam’s Goalpara district. Here performances are done in daytime whereas evenings are reserved for critics to discuss the day’s work. The ideas are exchanged by the experts and artists in the four-day festival.
Every year in-mid of December, Baddhungduppa, the theatre group of the Rabha tribe in Assam, conducts the festival which wakes up sleepy Rampur and its nearby villages and assembles them for the celebration with nature. There is no provision for artificial lights or sound systems to dilute the impact of the natural ambience. There is only pure and fresh air while bright sunrays peep through the tall Sal tress to light up the venue for actors and audience.
The audience, including village children, are seated on low-cost, environment-friendly benches made of betel nut trees and bamboos. The participants from various countries like South Korea, Poland, Sri Lanka excitedly perform in the festival. Young volunteers gather to erect the muddy stage and decorated its edges with bamboo planks.
“It’s a real challenge to take the performances into nature itself, but our determination to avail quality theatre in rural areas make us cross bridges. There is no proper stage, just an empty patch within a Sal forest; all the performances are done in the shade of the Sal trees,” said Rabha.
We call ‘Under the Sal tree’ a festival because it’s not merely a place to showcase the talent of artists and their masters but it is also a celebration for development of art and culture. It is a place to learn and exchange ideas, to dwell on the perfect plot for the play and to know the culture of other countries.
Sukracharjya Rabha wrote his first play in eighth standard since then he continued his indispensible presence in the field of art. Rabha is inspired by the ideology of Guru Heisnam Kanhailal, an internationally acclaimed theatre personality from Manipur whose sole objective behind open theatre was to give opportunity to the rural people who are refrained from quality theatre plays. He also believed so does Rabha that cities and towns are flowed with auditoriums and stages while the government pays no heed to the development of open air theatre in rural areas of the country.
The experimental attitude of Rabha has made him the prominent theatre personality in Assam. “Theatre is not a part of my life, but my entire life. I was stubborn in insisting that we must take theatre out of the auditorium to make it reach to everyone. Forests are always an integral part of the life of the tribes in Assam, and the idea of celebrating drama in the midst of a forest environment took roots in my mind. At the same time, I tried to conceptualise my drama in such a way that it could be performed both on stage as well as off it, driven by the desire and need to reach a wider audience,” recalled Sukracharya, a recipient of the Bismillah Khan Yuba Puraskar from Sangeet Natak Akademi, 2009, for direction and the Aditya Bokra Birla Kala Kira Puruskar, 2010.
“What surprises me is the love and attention we get from the people, at times is becomes tough to arrange seats for as many as 2000 people. We have always been punctual to our play timings, so we have punctual audience as well. We have even started the play prior to its scheduled timing due to heavy crowd”, he added.
Last year, Sukracharjya Rabha conducted a workshop at Natya Gram (Theatre Village), in Orissa to train the theatre artists and the play ‘Lathi’ was the outcome of it, where his new students performed the concluding play of Natya chetana festival.
“Many people have shown interest in under the tree themed open theatre. I even get calls from Orissa, Bangalore and Chennai to set up similar theatre in these cities. I am searching for the perfect place in the country for it,” said Rabha.
Rabha focuses more on the music and Artiste physic and avoid using props and stage designing. The man with daring and experimental mindset has set an example for all those who believe nothing is impossible in life.
