Court Martial by Swadesh Deepak
The Play
Court Martial’s central character is Ram Chander, a jawan in the army. He has been accused of murdering one of his senior officers, Captain Verma, and injuring another, Captain B.D. Kapoor. When the play begins, Ram Chander is already in the court, facing trial. Col. Surat Singh is presiding over the proceedings. During the course of the trial the prosecution, Major Ajay Puri, sees no complication in the case as Ram Chander himself has confessed to the crime. But defence counsel Captain Bikas Roy is up to something else. He poses ostensibly irrelevant questions to the witnesses but they are actually related to the genesis of the whole saga. The witnesses Subedar Balwan Singh, Captain B.D. Kapoor, Captain Dr Gupta, Lt. Col. Rawat and Ram Chander respond to the queries initially in a roundabout way but as Captain Roy persists with his line of reasoning, they find it hard to suppress the truth. The truth is that Ram Chander belongs to a low caste and Verma and Kapoor (prior to the shooting incident) often insulted him using derogatory words such as harijan, bhangi and chamaar. Kapoor’s aversion to Ram Chander was aggravated by the fact that he’s an outstanding sprinter who once beat Kapoor in a race. Kapoor had left no stone unturned in insulting Ram Chander nd made him do menial work.
Director’s note
I have not seen any dramatic work, in my journey of twenty-five years of theatre, as my livelihood. It is always a way to identify my surroundings, human beings, and life. Court Martial surprised me; not because of its social relevance but because of the thought process of human beings. Political and social inequalities are working behind the debilitating minds. I've been trying to talk to the actors about the strange ways of the human mind… the distance between truth and justice … which is measured in this Court Martial.
The Director
Artistic Director of Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, Kerala M G Jyothish is a director, designer, actor and teacher with more than two decades of experience. He graduated in Theatre Arts from the renowned School of Drama, at the University of Calicut, and post graduated in Theatre Arts (Direction) from the University of Pondichery. Later, M G Jyothish started practising with Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, conceiving and scenographing more than twenty major productions. Many of his critically acclaimed plays have regularly been invited to and presented at numerous festivals like World Theatre Festival, Brisbane; Avignon Off Festival, France; etc. He has won many awards and recognitions including Sanskriti National Award for Theatre Excellence, Sangeet Natak Academy
Award, and the Culture Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture.
The Playwright
Swadesh Deepak (born 1943) is an Indian playwright, novelist and short-story writer. Deepak has been active on theHindi literary scene since the mid-1960s and is best known forCourt Martial, a path breaking play that he published in 1991. Several of his works have been staged and made into elevision programmes. Deepak holds master's degrees in bothHindi and English. For twenty-six years, he taughtEnglish literature atAmbala’s Gandhi Memorial College.
Cast & Credits
Bikas Roy Ananth Gejo Antony
B. D. Kapoor Nanda Kishor
Balvan Singh Chanthu S Panicker
Major Ajay Puri Vineeth PR
Ramachander Govind U
Ganesh Rahul Reghu
Brajendra Rawat Jitheesh Samuel
Maneesh Kapoor Suseel S
Mahesh Varma Renju Sebastian
Colonel Surat Singh Renjith M
Abhishek Athul Ramkumar
Dr Captain Gupta Jibin K Babu
Vivek Sujith KS
Music Execution Subeesh ES
Make-up Ajayakumar C
Light execution Renjith PR
Playwright Swadesh Deepak
Director Jyothish M G