Beyond the land of Hattamala | 2010
Beyond the land of Hattamala
“A tale of two thieves”
In the poor rustic village of Hatua, live two great thieves – Kena and his bumbling apprentice, Becha. Thieving comes naturally to them and not a single house in Hatua has been spared! Their perfectly executed plans have made them a formidable pair and their fame has travelled far and wide. Despite their genius they are caught and flogged several times by the police, and remain poor.
Tonight, Kena and Becha undertake a unique journey. After a routine heist goes awry, they jump into a river to avoid a chasing mob. They wash up on the shores of a land, far far beyond anything they have ever known!
The extraordinarily naive residents of this country are nonchalant about personal possessions and this has Kena and Becha rubbing their hands in glee!
FINALLY, after years of dedicated thievery without luck, Kena and Becha get to reap their rewards.
Or do they?
Come; watch Kena and Becha and their confusion amongst the incredible people of the land far beyond Hatua
Directed by Rahul Gandhi, the simple fairytale story by Badal Sircar cuts across the barriers of age, race and culture and challenges conventional societal values.
Its simple storyline can by enjoyed by children as well.
A Review from Stuff.co.nz
Review: Beyond the land of Hattamala
By MICHAEL FIELD
As Auckland’s ethnic diversity goes from romantic ideal to a startling daily fact of life, even the city’s rather staid world of theatre is beginning to feel the impact.
Just below the radar – perhaps because the mainstream media are reluctant to notice – communities across the city are staging theatre that is innovative and different.
Much of it is for their own people, if only because the wider city is largely ignorant of the efforts being made.
The plays are good and the audiences are appreciative but there is a sense of sadness that the wider city has missed the opportunity.
Such is the fate of a bright little play, Beyond the Land of Hattamala, by the Auckland Indian theatre group Prayas.
Now a veteran theatre group with four commercial plays under their belt, Hattamala represented a new direction.
Performed at TAPAC in Western Springs – otherwise known as the Auckland Performing Acts Centre and an awesome, little known facility making a big cultural difference – it was a piece of street theatre drawn indoors.
It told of two village thieves, Kena (Bhavnesh Soni) and Becha (Rahul Chopra), who get chased out of one village and end up in another where money and possessions have little meaning.
The story, heavily political (and economic), was written by influential dramatist and theatre director Badal Sarkar, now 85. He has written around 50 plays, many of them in a pioneering street theatre style. He is also one of India’s most translated playwrights.
Hattamala was a delightfully simple play and the laughter of children in the sold out theatre suggested that the politics did not weigh heavily. It had lightness and freshness about it.
With live and beautiful music, Hattamala offered an unusual depth for that level of theatre. The music was Sufi, an ancient form of Islamic devotional music, its distinctive sounds are now heard across Asia and even make it into Bollywood films.
Prayas have developed themselves into a credible theatre group with a record of solid plays and Hattamala built on that.
But for Auckland to truly regard itself as a multi-cultural city, plays like Hattamala need to be measured not by their ethnic values, but by the commercial values of entertainment and pleasure.
Auckland is someway off scoring that, although Prayas will happily continue to chip away at the curious resistance Aucklanders have to anything a little different.
Stuff
