INTERNAT

& Praxis of World Drama

Aniitava Roy, Bryan Reynolds,AntonyJoriae

Subir Kumar Dhar, Tapu Biswa,s

AVANTGARDE PRESS

lssN NO: 2278 - 2036Tl

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i\T~-i ~ ``,-j'~'` ' THEATRE INTERNATIONALVol. IX<f'

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Essays on the Theory & Praxis of World Drama

Edited byAmitava Roy, Bryan Reynolds, Antony Johae

Subir Kumar Dhar, Tapu Biswas

Theatre International Vol.-IX offers a veritable intellectual feast toacademics, scholars, critics and the informed "common reader".Research, criticism and performance studies of masterpieces as well asof most recent texts and playwrights range far and wide. This volumeshowcases Prof. Roman Paterson's (UK) work on S#czkespeczre'sIIistory Plays., Profina Das' Hindi translatioi..s of the Prologue andEpilogue Of Henry V., Dr. Manisha Sa,rka.I on Colonialism and therempeff vis-a-vis African and Caribbean cultures; Nivedita KarmakaronwomencharactersinfJcz77t/cfandZ7e77c/czf.ExcitingnewresearchonTheatre includes Dr. Sujato Ghosh on Albee's Zoo Sfory, PanchananHaldar on A4lczrgz.72o/I.ty I.73 A4lcz¢es'fe DczJfcz#z. and major interventions byDr. Tapu Biswas, Lopamudra Dey, Swati Roy Chowdhuri, Laki Mollaetal.

TI vol. IX is a must for the libraries of Colleges \and Universities, \andinstitutions of Higher Leaning across the globe as much as for theprivate collections of scholars, educationis,ts and intellectual elites.

fl„A Tagore Gandhi Institute / Shakespeare Society Publication

ISSN NO: 2278 -2036TI

TREATREINTERNATIONAL

Vol. IX

Essays on the Theory & Praxis of world Drama

Eds.

Amitava RoyBryan ReynoldsAntony Johae

Subir Kumar DharTapu Biswas

AVANTGARDE PRESSISSN NO: 2278 -2036TI

TREA:ITREINTEENATIONAL:Journal{um-DramaBcok

Published byDr. Tapu BiswasforAvantgardePress,ShakespeareSocietyofEastemlndia.6A,MaharajaNandaKumarRoad,P.O. Sarat Bose Road,Kourata 700029.Phone:(033)24662688/9830405624/9748726895.E.mail:profroy@gmail.com,tapu_biswas@yahoo.com,

© Shakespeare Society of Eastern India, Registered, Govt. Approved, non-

profitSociety,Reg.no.S/49021of1985-86

First Published: Ia;may,cO17

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ISSN NO: 2278 - 2036 Vol IXZ7!ecz/re /#/er77cr/I.o#c!/, Peer Reviewed Journal

Editorial Board

International

.intony Johae (UK), Ph.D : FormerlyAssociate Professor, KuwaitUniversity. Life Member, Shakespeare Society of Eastern India.

Aparajita Nanda (USA), Ph.D : Professor of English, Berkeley,Uriversity of califomia L.A.

Bryan Reynolds (USA), Ph.D : UCI Chancellor's Professor,Department of Drama, Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Univ. ofCalifonria.

Emi Hamana (Ja`pan), Ph.D : Professor, Doctoral Programme inLiterature & Linguistics, University of Tsakuba.

LateGinterGrass(Germany):FounderAdvisor,NobelLaureateinLiterature.

• Roman paterson (un): Head ofperformingArts and Media, TeessideUniversity,Mddlesburgh.

• Robert Emmet Meagher (USA), Ph.D : Professor of Humanities,Hampshire College.

• S. RamaswanyqusA), Ph.D : SillimanFellow,Yaleuriversity.

• Sheila T. Cavanagh (USA), Ph.D : Chairprofessor, Masse-Martin/NEHDistinguishedTeachingProfessor,EmoryUniversity,Atlanta,Georgia.

• Syed Manzurul Isl;in (Bangladesh), Ph.D : ProfessorofEnglish,DhakaUniversity.

National

• Awadesh K. Singh, Ph.D : Director,Translation centre, IGNOU.

• Dattatreya Dutt, D. Litt. : Professor of Drama, Rabindra BharatiUniversity.

• Debnarayan Bandyopadhyay, Ph. D: Vice-Chancellor, BankuraUniversity, Bankura, West Bengal

Theatre Intemati onal

• Goutam Ghosal, D. Litt. : Professor, DEOMEL, Visva-Bharati ,Shantiniketan, West Bengal.

• Harish c.Gupta : FormeeDaputy Librarian, National Libraryoflndia,Schoilar of Russian Language and Literature, Soviet Land NehmAward Laureate.

• Harish Trivedi, Ph.D : Former Headofthe Department of English,Delhi University.

• KC. Baral, Ph.D : Director, EFLU, Shillong,Meghalaya.

• MadanM. Sarma, Ph.D : ProfessorofEnglish, Teapuruniversity.

• ManjuDutta Gupta, Ph.D : FormerprofessorofEnglish, RabindraBharati University, Ko lkata.

• M Mani Meiti : Professor & HOD, Dept. ofEnglish,ManipurUniversity

• Pona Mahanta, Ph.D : Former professor of English, DibrugarhUnivers ity, Assan.

• Prakash Joshi, Ph.D : Professor, Dept. of English and MEL,BanasthaliUniversity,Rajasthan.

• RajanJosephBarrett,Ph.D : Professor, Dart. ofEnglish, FacultyofArts, M. S. University ofBaroda, Vadodara.

• R. N. Rai, D. Litt : Professor, Dept. of English, Banaras HinduUniversity, Uttar Pradesh.

• Sanjukta Dasgupta, Ph.D : Professor of English and formerDean,Faculty of Arts, University of Calcutta.

Contents

From the Editors' Desk

I. England'sNational Epic?

2. Translating shakespeare'sHistory Plays in Hindi:The Prologue andEpilogue to ffe#ry y

3. Murderers in thePlays of Shakespeare

4. GeorgeLanrfug'sThe Pleasure of Exile:

AcaribbeanAppropriationof Shakespeare's The rempes/

5. Convict Theatre inAustralia:The Novelty in It

6. Gertrude andophelia:The Dumb Show PlayersA Feminist Reading ofH¢m/c/

7. Shakespeare's "The Eempest" APlay of Bonded Love or BondedLabour: A Postmodemist Survey

8. Friend or strangeran unending ambiguity of identity.Thanatation and the question of

communication in EdwardAlbee's Z7!e Zoo Srory

9. Thevoiceless subalterns:Seven Steps Around the Fire

Reviews&Commentry

Roman Paterson

Pratina Das

Tapu Biswas

Manisha Sarkar

Swati Roy Chowdhury

Nivedita Finakar

Lopamudra Dey

Sujato Ghosh

Panchanan H alder

Page

1

1

17

58

65

74

10. Nur Jahan: AComparative studyof Jogendra Singh's novel andD.L. Roy's diana

11. BookReview ofJyotiBhattacharya's Transcreations

The Contributors and Editors

The TI Manifesto

Laki Molla

AmitavaRoy

83

From the Editors' Desk

Volume IX of 7%eczjre /#/er#czfz.o#c}/ presents to you, our very dear andcritical readers, a plethora of specialist papers from academics andperformanceexpertsofnationalandintemationalreputeandrenownfromlndiaandabroad,fromtheeastandthewest.Thisprestigiousintemationaljoumalisheadedforasame-daydoubleBookreleaseceremony.Firstattheinauguralofthe9thworldShakespeareconferenceatKolkatahostedbytheShakespeare Society of Eastern India(SSEI) in collaboration with J#d!.cz#Co2z#c!./o/C%/j%r¢/Re/aJ!.our(ICCR)onSaturdayJanuary28,2017beforea packed audience of researchers , scholars, teachers; profess.ors,performanceartistsgatheredtogetherforthegreatoccasion.ThenagainattheKo/frojczBoo*Fczz.r2017(KBF)onthesameeveningbeforeadifferentset of publishers , book lovers, scholars, critics, and theatre expertsattendingtheKBF(raputedtobetheworld'slargestBookFairintermsoffootfall and books bought) from all over India and abroad.

TheHistoryPlaysofShakespearehasgenerallynothadthesameamountof critical attention or stage productions as the Bard's tragedies andcomedies. Only recently the, world has seen a revival of interest inShakespeare's core ten histories and other related historical works. RomanPaterson, renowned scholar, critic theatre director and Shakespare expertfrom the UK brings his vast experience to bear on the moot questionsrelating to the Bard's Histories in the first TI paper:

What is the special quality of Shakespeare's mastery over this genre, ageureworkeduponbymanyofhiscontemporarieslikeMarlowe,BenJonsonand the University Wits? The relation between the text of the Historiessubmitted by the author to the Master of the Revels for licensing and thefrequentlyalteredperfomancescript;istheBardaTudorpropagandistora critical commentator on and re-creator of the menace, order-disorderdialectic and ethos of the Elizabethan-Jacobean period ? Are the HistoryPlaystobeseenassingletextsfocusingonaparticularkingoraspirant(s)to the throne or a series of related plays that comprise a National Epic ofEngland? The roles of the Percys and the enigma of Falstaff; the relation6etweenShakespeare'sHistoriesandtheOldandNewHistoricistsandtheCultural Materialists.

Theatre International

Roman Paterson addresses these questions and more in hischaracteristically witty and wise way to bring fresh light on the Bard and hisand our tumultuous times. Paterson's in-depth explorations of Shakespeare'sHistories is followed by acclaimed translator Protima Das' fust-ever Hinditranslation from India of the Prologue and Epilogue ofj7e#ry y. Ms. Das hasestablished a special nicne for herself through her modem day HinditranscreatiousfromfJ¢m/cfandtheSongsfromShckespeare'splays.Cunentlyshe is a Research Scholor at the SSEI working on an ambitious project oftranslatingaselcctnumberoftheBard'splaysintoHindi,thenationallanguageof lndia.Ontheanvilishersoon-to-be-publishedbookofHinditranslatiousofall the Prologues, Epilogues and Choric passages in Shakespeare.

Dr. Tapu Biswas' `Murderers in the Plays of shakespeare' is a brief butrevealing insightful glimpse into assassinations, murders and homicidalviolence in Early Modern English drama with special reference toShakespeare. Dr. Biswas has established himself globally as the pioneerresearcher in the reception of Beckett and the Absurdists in India and thesubcontinent. He is also the acknowledged authority on Badal Sircar intranslation and in performance. Here Biswas breaks new ground ip hisShakespearean avatar.

Dr. Manisha Sarka.r provides a masterful de-construction andre-construction of George Lamming's 7lrfee P/eczs"re o/Ex:z./e. Ms. Sarkarhighlights the Caribbean and African debates over decolonization and theProspero-Caliban relationship in its manifold dimensions. This is a majoroutstanding work on postcolonial and transcultural questions in bothAfro-Carib and global contexts. .

From the Caribbean and Africa we travel `down under' to colonialAustralia for the emergence and changing developments of `ConvictTheatre' in that Penal settlement. Swati Roychowdhury's thoroughlydocumented fascinating study of `Convict Theatre in Australia' reveals ahitherto little-known but richly interesting terrain of dram;tic activity in aNation with a chequered and controversial history.

YouthfullecturerMs.NiveditaKarmakargivesusafeministreadingofGertrude and Ophelia where she constructs a sprited defence of the twocomplex and controversial much-maligned women in j7¢"/ef. Karmakarstudies both texts and performance to provide new insights (through avaluable interview with theatre director and actor Amitava Roy) into notonlyShakespeare'sffczm/e/butalsoitslndianavatar-BratyaBasu'sBanglaapp[opriationHemlat,PrinceOfGaranhata(2006).

From the Editors ' Desk

Ms. Lopamudra Dey, research scholar from Rabindra Bharati University,Kolkata, enters the domain of critical battles between Feminists, Nco-His-toricists and Cultural Modernists to reveal her own critical perspectives on`Bonds of Love' and `Bonds of Labour' in Shakespeare's 714e rempes/.

Dr. Sujato Ghosh explores in detail the problems of identity, alienation,andmiscommunication in Edward Albee's Zoo Sfor)/, perhaps the mostproduced American play by by Campus theatre groups both in the USA andIndia.

Panchanan Halder currently Asst. Professor in a West Bengal Collegecarries on the tradition of outstanding blind scholars (mainly from JadavpurUniversity, Kolkata) which Bengal seems to regularly produce. Perhaps themost outstanding among them is the much-awarded Dr. Somnath Paul (arecently retired Head ofDeptt. In English of a premierKolkata College) whohas authored many acclaimed books and papers including a massivedefinitive bibliographical Ph. D. Thesis on Faulkner and has also featured inprevious issues of the Journal.

Panchanan Halder approacbes Mahesh Dattani's acclaimed play Seve#Sfeps ,4rozt#d ffee Fz.re from the twin perspectives of Subaltern Studies andMarginality theories. This excellent paper is ultimately about the socialresponsibility of the playwright and goes beyond the text in question. HereHalder introduces us to tbe latest confessional, semi-autobiographicaltestimonies of `the third gender' (usually labelled as Hijras/ Eunuchs inIndia or more sophisticated as transgenders) who are fast breaking out oftheir `invisibility' the world over as also in India. Halder's is not just acritical work on a playtext but a polemical and courageous manifesto for`Human Rights' for the ``Hijras' living out embattled existences in a

unfeeling, hostile, oppressive heteronormative patriarchal system.

In IVwr /cz¢cz#, Laki Molla makes a comparative estimate of one of themost enigmatic personages in Indian history of the Mughal Period - theQueen Nur Jahan beloved of princes and Kings who ultimately belonged toneither husbands nor lovers. Molla highlights the depiction ofNur Jahan inIndian novel and drama and reveals how history is fictionalised and fictionhistoricized when appropriated by forms of literature.

Wishing you all a good read

AmitavaRoy&AntonyJohaeFor the Editors

Theatre International

About the Authors

1. Ronan paterson, Head ofperfoming Arts, School of Arts andMedia, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, U.K.

2. Pratima Das, Teacher of English, engaged inResearch in areas ofTranslation Studies (Theory and praxis) and Comparative Literature atShakespeare Society of Eastern India.

3. Dr. Tapu Biswas,Assistant professor, Dept of English and otherModern European Languages, Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan, West Bengal

4. Swati Roy chowdhury, Assistant professor, Department of English,Mankar College Mankar, University ofBurdwan, West Bengal.

5. Dr. Manisha sarkar,Assistant professor and Head of the Deptt.of English, Bhairab Ganguly College, Kolkata.

6. Nivedita Karmakar, Assistant professor, Sripat singh college,Murshidabad, West Bengal.

7. Lopamudra Dey, Assistant Teacher, Ichapur Girls High school,West Bengal.

8. Dr. Sujato Ghosh,FormerFaculty, NetajiNagarDay college @ept.of English) affiliated to University of Calcutta. Currently working asSecretarytoViceChancellor,BankuraUniversity,WestBengal.

9. Panchanan Halder, Assistant professor, Department of English,Rampurhat College, Birbhum, University of Burdwan, West Bengal

10. Laki Molla, Assistantprofessor, Department of English, BhairabGanguly college, Kolkata.

ffl ,.tr> L t`an4~

The Editors

The Editors, TI Vol IX

Amitava Roy is currently Director, Shakespeare Centre for AdvancedResearch, Rabindra Bharati University. Former Shakespeare Professor inEnglish, Rabindra Bharati University. President, Shakespeare Society o`fEastern India. Author and editor of over fifteen books and three hundredarticles and papers in national and international journals and newspapers.Globally renowned Theatre Director and Actor.

BryanReynoldsisChancellor'sProfessor,DepartmentofDramaClaireTrevorSchooloftheArts,UniversityofCalifomia,Irvine,CA92697-2775.

AntonyJohae,FormerelyAssociateProfessor,Kwl4;c„./I/#!.1;ersz.fy.Ph.Din Comparative Literature from Susses University, U.K. Life Member,Shakespeare Society Of Eastern India

SubirKumarDhariscurrentlyDirector,SchoolofLanguages,RabindraBharati University, Kolkata and Professor of English at Rabindra BharatiUniversity. Internationally acclaimed Blake and Shakespeare Expert. Au-thor of two books and numerous papers.

Tapu Biswas, Assistant Professor, Dept of English and Other ModernEuropean Languages, Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan, West Bengal. Jt.Secretary; Shakespeare Society of Eastern India. Secretary, Tagore-GandhiInstitute for Culture Studies and Service -Leaning. Co-Convener of theWorld Shakespeare Conferences from 2004 onwards.

Vol. IX JAN 2017 ISSN NO: 2278 -2036TI