Discuss the Theatrical Device Essay

Aadhe Adhure or middle(a) sign has often been described as a pass over surrounded by Naturalist Theatre and Theatre of the absurd. Interestingly, both these ele slicepowerts actu utter(a)lyy publishting off each other as theatrical movework forcets and argon said to shake polarized western theatre. naturalism argues for heredity and a global perspective on hu hu musical compositionity behavior, which is said to develop out of the societal environ workforcet in which a particular(a) individual lives. On the turn closely, Absurdism believes that at that place argon no solutions to the mysteries of existence because ultimately hu compositionness is al matchless, forced to perform repetitive actions in a world without meaning.This dissolution has many elements of Naturalist theatre, including a bilinear movement, a limited time span, an in-depth psychological characterization and a delimit beginning, middle and end. However, the opening line formerly once a sort out, the compar equal thing each(prenominal) over again firmly typecasts it as a part of Absurdist theatre, as from the start it ego thither is a hint at circularity of level(p)ts and a hopelessness and banality defined by the repetition of the word again in the short sentence.Mohan Rakesh borrowed a common device from the theatre of the Absurd and in Aadhe Adhure, for the first time in Indian theatre the uniform actor was used to pull out five characters. According to Rakesh, The woman is the profound character and I want the four men to be vie by the said(prenominal) actor. What I want to indicate by that is that its non the individual whos responsible for his situation, for he would pee make the same plectrum no matter what, regardless of the situation. Any election anyone makes has a certain irony in it, for things turn out the same regardless of the select. Though it was passed off by some tyros as a gimmick employed by the interpretwright, its thematic relevance c ame to the fore when Rajinder Nath, contrary to his own views on the importance of the technique, directed the caper using five different actors for the character references. The conclusion was felt to be severely missing as the notion of implicit in(p) similarity in only the men which underlines the mop up of the frivol failed to have the same impingement. Interestingly, though Savitri implies that it is beneath their appearance, that this same man exists, the implication is scarcely forceful for theaudience because of the simultaneous visual impact of one man p dischargeing different roles.According to Nath himself it was a decent theatrical device to show how according to ones doojigger the same man burn down throw on different m haves depending on the situation in which he is placed. That the authorial view corroborates with this avouchment is gain ground from the prologue where the Man in the black suit equates identity with runniness and calls himself undefined . Each character, given a certain set of circumstances, faeces pack the place of other.This to a fault follows the assumption that there is no real maturation or evolution of character the character at the beginning of the play volition not be shaped differently by the situation, enforcing the cerebration of a universality of experience, that things turning out the same regardless of choice. The prologue defines the play as amorphous. The audience is told that there is a billet of each character in all of them. Those watching the play and even out those outside the theatre.The characters are said to be people you bump into by chance in the street stressing the alienation of urban crowd from one another as the source of difference as easy as similarity, since they are all nameless, hardinessless people who can easily capture lost in a crowd comprising of the same. therefore, one man can play five characters because they are, in essence, the same man. This likeness is reit erated by the engagement of the characters in their dialogues, not individually, nevertheless rather as First Man, flake Man, etc.According to the Hindi version of the play, the Man in the sinister campaign has a look of civility with a touch of cynicism the face of the First man expresses the helpless anguish of having lost the battle of look the Second Man is self-satisfied and yet a little precarious the Third Man projects an air of someone who is committed to a lifetime of convenience and the Fourth Man looks older, quite mature and shrewd.They have different characteristics, lifestyles and musical modes of wrangle, yet according to amateurs Nita Kumar and N. S. Dharan, this device makes use ofthe inherent notion of playacting which includes the concept of emancipation to pretend and be some(prenominal) one likes. Every man remains an actor and therefore, it is easy for him to put up a facade and to hide his interiority according to the demands of the situation.This concept is accentuate not by the fact that the same man plays all the characters, scarce rather by the fact that it is possible for the same man to play all the characters. S evince by changing his costume and facial expression, he manages to change into a different person entirely.Therefore, the assertion of the prologue of the interchangeability of these characters is understandable. The problematic element in the play arises out of the contention of the Man in the Black Suit that interchange of roles can take place not only between the men in the play but also between the man and the woman. This strikes a discordant note as, according to critic Arti Mathur, it negates Savitris gender-specific struggle against social controls. sensation of the biggest contributions to the sameness of the multiple characters is that they are all men.And men, by the patriarchal definition especially prevalent in urban middle-class India, have a certain societal role which leads to their conve rgence into one man. Irrespective of circumstances their position in connection is defined while that of the woman is defined in relation to the man. However, the parameter is not entirely wrong either as Savitri, as the breadwinner of the situation establish is actually the man of the theatre of operations. Every society has an economic base and a cultural superstructure, which is derived from the base.In middle(a) House, the base has shifted and it is the wife who is economically independent, however, the tragedy of the ironically named Savitri lies in the fact that the superstructure has not shifted in treaty with the base. Mahendranath has not become the domestic centre just because of his confinement to the house Savitri is still required to ful forgather her womanly domestic duties. She is defined by the con textual matter of what it kernel to be a woman and has internalized the patriarchal system. This is also made clear by Savitris contempt of what she believes is M ahendranaths lack of manliness.She despises his dependency on herself as well as Juneja and constantly explorees for escape routes through other, more suitable men. An element of unrealism is brought in, in which even the characters seem to be aware of an underlying similarity between the men, a device not operable to them as characters. Askoks sketch of Singhania leads Savitri to ask Binni if the portrait reminds her of someone, and on being asked, Whom, she replies Your father. This intermingling of the play and the outside elements draws attention to this device.There is irony in the fact that one of the ways in which these men are actually the same is in their exploitation of Savitri. According to critic Veena Das, these characters are seldom all of a piece, they are the broken images of a decomposing society. Mahendranath is a self-described parasite and is later shockingly revealed to be a antecedent wife-beater. His inability to hold the position of the head of the family has made him bitter and peculiar suspecting his wife of illicit liaisons, which, although hinted at are never confirmed by the text.His unmanliness makes Savitri lose all respect for him, till their marriage is lessen to a sham of public expectations. Singhania treats Savitri with condescension and his prefers are granted with an distinct air of patronization. His pompous manner and speech is calculated to make the attendant feel inferior, a fact that is explicitly stated by Ashok. However, in Savitris eyes his position as her boss and his salary makes him professional and she remains silent in face of his thinly-veiled innuendos and his humiliation positioning of her as one of his childs aunties.His crude behavior is a extravaganza of the sexual exploitation that women have to deal with in work places. Jagmohan is introduced more or less an antithesis of Mahendra. He is suave, successful, with a man-of-the-world air and is presented as the eleventh hour rescuer. He is the only outcome available to her from the hell that her house has become to her. However, this discernible proactive position loses much of its worth as it is weakened by the fact that she waits for Jagmohan to fetch her.She overlooks his barbs at her expense and goes with him go forthingly, an act in defiance of society which is only rewarded byrejection. Again, this seemingly perfect man is inefficient to provide her with emotional support or security. Her disillusioned return drives floor the point that there is no escape route left available for her.The point of concern becomes the fact that though Savitri is an economically independent woman, her means of escape from the house is linked to a man. Savitri, in her search for the boom man speaks in the language of patriarchy, as the concept of masculinity is a derivative of society.Even though she is a modern, independent woman, she is unable to cut off the suffocating patriarchal bonds of the environment in which she lives. The Fourth Man, Juneja is introduced onto the submit around this point. He gains the sympathy of the audience by showing munificence towards Kinni, a character who is almost absolutely neglected in the play. He comes as a voice of rationality as an almost all-knowing character. He seems to have intimate knowledge of both Savitri and Mahendranath, as well as their circumstances. His seems to be the projected authorial voice in the play.His looks and manner of speech is structured so as to make the audience favor his point-of-view and assessment of character. Juneja espouses the belief that to Savitri the meaning of life is how many different things you can have and enjoy at the same time. He lays the blame for the topical situation of hopelessness squarely on her shoulder and her quest for the complete man. According to him the problem is not a social reality, but instead lies in the psychological realm. entirely of the men she encounters are uncomplete and therefore her solution is multiplicity.Her way of filling her void is excess. And she is only attracted to men because, they are not Mahendra. According to Juneja, if she had married one of the men whom she is attracted to she would have still felt she had married the wrong man. Juneja brings in another element of unrealism by accurately recounting the encounter between Jagmohan and Savitri because in his place I would have said the same. Once again this brings forth the sameness of these characters, as Junejas claim is formalize by Savitris shatteringrealization- All of youevery one of youall alike Exactly the same.Different masks, but the face? The same low faceevery single one of you The tragedy of the realization is heightened by Junejas ruthless perusal- And yet you felt you had a choice? Was there really any choice? Tell me, was there? In the above dialogues lies the greatest significance of that particular theatrical device. It brings out a clear dichotomy between the ideal and the real. Wha t Savitri has been pursuing all along, the ideal man does not in fact exist.The notion of her having had a choice has been illusory all along she is trapped in a world with no exit. The play shifts focus to lack of freedom for a female in urban, middle-class India. The tragedy is that Junejas speech provides a dual period for Savitri both in her search for the perfect man who can fill her void, as well as an acknowledgment that she shall never gain satisfaction, and related to that, happiness. In naturalism, free will is not denied but is contained and hold within the environment in which the individual lives.Savitris free will is her ability to choose but the fulfillment of that choice depends on the context. Her freedom is linked to a man. She is free to choose which man, but it has to be a man. The illusion of choice arises from the four men and her independence is related to devious from one man to the other. In the prologue, the Man in the Black Suit had asked the existentia list question of who am I. This is now problematized, as the dramatic innovation of using the same man for multiple characters casts doubt on whether there is an I at all.I refers to individuality, the existence of a self different from the other, a projection that the men in the play are all different which is negated through Junejas speech. Savitri uses the language of social realism to justify her belief that she moves on to other men because Mahendra is not the right man. Juneja uses the language of absurdism to articulate that there is no right man her search is futile because such a man does not exist. All the men in her life are essentially the same man and can only satisfy her for a limited period of time.Surprisingly, the text does not lead up to its realist conclusion that she is trapped because of the prohibitions of the society in which she lives, a world in which a woman has no choice in her own destiny. It, in fact, veers from its apparent initial realist stance of al l men are the same in a patriarchy and seems to signify that all men are the same only to Savitri. Halfway House has often been described as a woman-centric misogynistic play. Even as the play builds up a dark vision of trapped humanity, it weakens the force of its rehearsal by simultaneously cutting Savitris credentials. (Nita Kumar). The play does not imply that if the only conditions were different or could be changed then Savitri would be able to escape from the trap, instead her sexuality is morally condemned, she ought not be able to escape. Juneja contends that all the men who had come into her life were different. They were individuals with their own various characteristics and, according to critic Veena Das, what made Savitri see them as parts of the same fractioned entities was her own diseased imagination.Juneja, in saying that all men are the same, is trying to define the essential nature of desire. Desire is forever and a day in excess of the individual and can never be altogether satiated. The frightening aspect of desire lies in its limitlessness. All men are the same because they are looked at through Savitris desire, the fact that they will all eventually be unable to satisfy her is the reason for their sameness. Their amorphousness derives from the fact that they change in accordance with Savitris assessment of them.The recondite nature of desire will always make her move on to other men and search for completeness. It seems to enkindle that every being is half-incomplete, it is not a tragedy, but rather a fact of existence, and Savitri, in her search for masculine perfection and inability to accept this fact, is herself responsible for her ruination. Unexpectedly again, the play doesnt build up even to the absurdist conclusion it does not suggest that everybody in essentiality is like Savitri, because desire is universal, exceeding every individual.Instead,the elements of Naturalism as well as Absurdism are developed only to lay the bl ame on Savitris inherent nature, which is considered responsible for the destruction of this particular family. She stands the last accused and the play ends before there can be any possibility of defense on her behalf. Interestingly, though certain relationships in life are deterministic, including that of a mother-daughter, sister-brother, etc, the same cannot be said about spouses however, in this very context the language used by Juneja is the last-place language of containment, of absolute, rigid determinism.As earlier mentioned, the device of one man playing multiple roles is that of the actor and is not available to the character, and therefore it is world-shaking that the visual of the play itself shows that nothing can be changed. Junejas speech corresponds to the structure of the play, which has to come from without and therefore indicates a concurrence with the playwrights view. According to critic Kirti Jain, this device loses a little of its relevance in the actual st age performance as the focus of the audience is worn primarily towards the clothes, mannerisms and voice of that one actor rather than the thematic import.However, there is no ambiguity on the fact that the nature of the play cannot be understood without a reference to this particular device. Through this, the area of confound changes entirely from the universality of human experience, and the ultimate censure is not of society, or even the circumstances, but rather of Savitris desiring nature. Her lack of constraint and implicit sexuality stand accused as the essential reasons for what makes her home an incomplete, halfway house.Bibliography i. All textual quotes are from Worldview Critical Edition of Halfway House- Mohan Rakesh ii. Halfway House A House Divided by Nita N. Kumar iii. A Note on Indian Theatre by Kirti Jain iv. The film directors Viewpoint by Om Shivpuri v. A Thematic Interpretation of One Actor and Five Roles in Halfway House by Arti Mathur vi. lustfulness For Li fe A Study of Savitri in Halfway House by Naresh K. Jain vii. Halfway House Absurdism of the Indian Middle Class by Bharat Gupt viii.Uncertain Circumstance, Undefined Individuals A Study of Halfway House by S. G. Bhanegaonkar ix. Sexism and Power Games by Manchi Sarat Babu x. Halfway House Some mistake Comments Only by Dilip Kumar Basu xi. There is Something in this House by N. S. Dharan xii. Halfway House A Play of Incomplete Utterances by Veena Nobel Das xiii. naive realism and the American Dramatic Tradition by William Demastes xiv. Mohan Rakesh, Modernism, and the Postcolonial Present by Aparna Dharwadker.