The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions
The article studies the significance and function of stage directions in Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions (1993). The stage directions propel the play-text to transcend into a performative script. Scholars Jisha Menon (2013) and Aparna Dharwadker (2005) commend Dattani’s ‘innovative’ dramaturgy for...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Atatürk University
2024-09-01
|
| Series: | Theatre Academy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4112215 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832086506595942400 |
|---|---|
| author | Ananya Ghoshal Manivendra Kumar |
| author_facet | Ananya Ghoshal Manivendra Kumar |
| author_sort | Ananya Ghoshal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The article studies the significance and function of stage directions in Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions (1993). The stage directions propel the play-text to transcend into a performative script. Scholars Jisha Menon (2013) and Aparna Dharwadker (2005) commend Dattani’s ‘innovative’ dramaturgy for realistically representing the urban-middle-class home along with the complex social issues pervading this social milieu. This article argues for their assertion and extends their studies by examining the source of Dattani’s inventive stagecraft – his stage directions. It argues that Dattani challenges the label of dramatic text through his stage construction and stage directions. These directions add theatricality and render a visual appeal to the written text, which acts as a ‘drama’ for the students and critics of literature and a ‘fabel’ or a blueprint for other directors. The ostension of multiple levels of space-time in the text through stage directions reifies the mise-en-scene in the readers’ minds and also foregrounds Dattani’s reformist method of creating a conflict in his readers/audiences’ minds. Using a comparative analysis of the stage directions in the play-text by Dattani and a stage production by the Delhi-based Asmita Theatre under the direction of Arvind Gaur, it foregrounds Dattani’s extravagant and complex construction of the stage. It studies his distinct usage of the stage as a ‘spatial-temporal’ entity and establishes that Dattani’s stage directions are quintessential to his reformist agendas. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6128464c5525492497fbd2d8eb66d3ab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2980-1656 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | Atatürk University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Theatre Academy |
| spelling | doaj-art-6128464c5525492497fbd2d8eb66d3ab2025-02-06T12:41:43ZengAtatürk UniversityTheatre Academy2980-16562024-09-012211613510.62425/theatreacademy.152573855The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final SolutionsAnanya Ghoshal0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2453-6507Manivendra Kumar1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7134-4092Indian Institute of Technology IndoreIndian Institute of Technology IndoreThe article studies the significance and function of stage directions in Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions (1993). The stage directions propel the play-text to transcend into a performative script. Scholars Jisha Menon (2013) and Aparna Dharwadker (2005) commend Dattani’s ‘innovative’ dramaturgy for realistically representing the urban-middle-class home along with the complex social issues pervading this social milieu. This article argues for their assertion and extends their studies by examining the source of Dattani’s inventive stagecraft – his stage directions. It argues that Dattani challenges the label of dramatic text through his stage construction and stage directions. These directions add theatricality and render a visual appeal to the written text, which acts as a ‘drama’ for the students and critics of literature and a ‘fabel’ or a blueprint for other directors. The ostension of multiple levels of space-time in the text through stage directions reifies the mise-en-scene in the readers’ minds and also foregrounds Dattani’s reformist method of creating a conflict in his readers/audiences’ minds. Using a comparative analysis of the stage directions in the play-text by Dattani and a stage production by the Delhi-based Asmita Theatre under the direction of Arvind Gaur, it foregrounds Dattani’s extravagant and complex construction of the stage. It studies his distinct usage of the stage as a ‘spatial-temporal’ entity and establishes that Dattani’s stage directions are quintessential to his reformist agendas.https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4112215mahesh dattanipost-independence indian theatreindian stagecraftreformfinal solutionsmahesh dattanibağımsızlık-sonrası hint tiyatrosuhint sahneciliğireformfinal solutions. |
| spellingShingle | Ananya Ghoshal Manivendra Kumar The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions Theatre Academy mahesh dattani post-independence indian theatre indian stagecraft reform final solutions mahesh dattani bağımsızlık-sonrası hint tiyatrosu hint sahneciliği reform final solutions. |
| title | The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions |
| title_full | The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions |
| title_fullStr | The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions |
| title_short | The Spatial-Temporal Canvas That We Call the Stage: Text and Performance in Final Solutions |
| title_sort | spatial temporal canvas that we call the stage text and performance in final solutions |
| topic | mahesh dattani post-independence indian theatre indian stagecraft reform final solutions mahesh dattani bağımsızlık-sonrası hint tiyatrosu hint sahneciliği reform final solutions. |
| url | https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4112215 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ananyaghoshal thespatialtemporalcanvasthatwecallthestagetextandperformanceinfinalsolutions AT manivendrakumar thespatialtemporalcanvasthatwecallthestagetextandperformanceinfinalsolutions AT ananyaghoshal spatialtemporalcanvasthatwecallthestagetextandperformanceinfinalsolutions AT manivendrakumar spatialtemporalcanvasthatwecallthestagetextandperformanceinfinalsolutions |