February 4: While election mania is gripping most Mumbaites, there are some who have actually found the time and inspiration to celebrate German playwright Bertolt Brecht's (1898-1956) birth anniversary this weekend.Like-minded Marathi intellectuals, mostly writers and street theatre activists, formed the Bertolt Brecht Janmashatabdi Samaroh Samiti recently. "We want to examine Brecht's writings in the present Indian context. His plays and poems, which have been widely translated in Marathi and other Indian languages, waged a war against Hitler's fascist rule.
"His times faced challenges of fighting terrorism, which is very relevant in these days of political insurgency. Most importantly, he can lend a common platform for democratic-minded persons," said samiti activist and publisher Satish Kalsekar who, along with poet Narayan Surve and writer-actor Hemu Adhikari are among the active participants in the anniversary celebrations.
The samiti members are organisations like the Indian People's TheatreAssociation, Lokwangmay Gruha, Jaagar and Adivasi Sahitya Parishad.
The two-day celebration starts with the release of Marathi and Hindi translations of Brecht's poems at the Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan, Prabhadevi. City-based poets will read out some of the passages.
The second day will have two seminar sessions - on Brecht's concept of political theatre and his epic theatre and the other on challenges before political theatre in India.
The discussion sessions will be followed by performance of the Marathi version of Brecht's play `Mister Puntilla and his man Matti', titled `Dushingrao ani tyacha Manus'.
As Surve puts it, Marathi writers have always been inspired by Brecht. While his play `Three Penny Opera' was translated by Marathi litterateur P L Deshpande, `Galeileo' also was successfully adapted in recent times. "We have to be grateful to him for introducing us to a world of ideas, concepts and philosophies," said Surve.
Brecht's anniversary celebration will also beconducted all over the state.
"We want to meet like-minded persons in mofussil Maharashtra, which is why we have called theatre persons, trade unionists and human rights activists from Kolhapur, Nasik and Aurangabad. The seminar sessions are likely to trigger a healthy debate," Kalsekar concluded.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
