SILENCE! THE COURT IS IN SESSION

A leading contemporary playwright, screen and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist and social commentator, Vijay Tendulkar (1928-2008) was the most influential dramatist and theatre personality in Marathi for over five decades. His plays Kamala, Silence! The Court is in Session, Sakharam Binder, The Vultures, Encounter in Umbugland and Ghashiram Kotwal expose the basic hypocrisy and double standards of middle-class society. He was consciously and unconsciously, inspired by just about everything around him: real-life experiences, hearsay, news items, films, plays and literature and in general. With Silence! The Court is in Session, Tendulkar became the centre of a general controversy, the Angry Young Man of Marathi Theatre who was identified as a rebel against the established values of a fundamentally orthodox society. An amateur theatre group arrives in a suburban village of Mumbai to stage a play on the trial of the American President Johnson for producing nuclear weapons. Members of this group represent the sub-strata of society and their spiteful attitude towards the spinster school teacher Leela Benare, the protagonist of the play, reflects their malicious nature. A well-targetted conspiracy is hatched against her and, in the name of a mock trial, the expose and dissect her personal life. This reveals their basic hypocrisy and double standards. The play exposes the vulnerability of women in the traditional Indian society. In a rare turnabout, the accusers emerge as the offenders.

Write a review

Your Name:

Your Review:

Note: HTML is not translated!

Rating: Bad Good

Enter the code in the box below: