Art Matters: Macbeth and Murder Convicts

Bengaluru, Karnataka: In Karnataka, a theatre director based in Mysuru has been working with prisoners serving life sentences for the past 17 years. Part of the convicts' repertoire in dramatics is Maaranayaka, a Kannada adaptation of Shakespeare's famous play, Macbeth.

The play based on murder, performed by convicted murderers, and the results were outstanding.

Macbeth with its theme of violent crime and the guilt that follows resonates for these men serving life terms for murder. In the play, King Duncan of Scotland, is murdered by his cousin and trusted general Macbeth, because of his ambition to become king.

S V Ramesh, one of the convicts who played the role of King Duncan, told NDTV, "After doing that crime, Macbeth sees the blood sticking to his hands and feels he shouldn't have done that. When that feeling of remorse comes, that is when a man is reformed."

The man who exposed these convicts to the experience of immersion in a play, Hulugappa Kattimani, is a senior theatre artist who first began working with prisoners in 1997.

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"My guru, B.V Karanth would say, theatre is not just about lines. You need life's experiences. He would ask us to follow him and take us to railway station, bus stands and crowded place and tell us to observe the people.  While doing this we went to Bellary jail, there was a Rangayana camp. There I had a thought. Why not try reformation through theatre, at least I kept that as an excuse!" said Mr Kattimani to NDTV.

The experience has been very positive. Jayaram, a convict said, "To think we are performing on such stages, getting encouragement from people, we feel very happy and moved to tears. We get peace of mind. They have brought us out of the darkness and are showing us the light."

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They are so caught up with performing, that some of these players actually gave up precious parole time, to come here to Bengaluru's Ranga Shankara to perform.

Sharath Shettigar said "I was on parole, but came running here after two days, because it is a commitment. I have taken up a responsibility. If I let the team down it would be a betrayal," he said.

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What about security for the prisoners as they perform outside the jails?

"The first time they (convicts) came to Kala Mandir, there were about 70 policemen, two policemen per prisoner. Today there are about 30 artists and only 10 policemen," said Mr Kattimani.

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Official encouragement is of course vital in such an enterprise. Inspector General of Prisons, Kamal Pant told NDTV, "When you see them performing on stage you see they have so much talent. This not only here this creates a positive environment inside the jail also".

Acting in these plays has been a life-changing experience for some convicts like Krishna Gowda, who is serving a life sentence, "We have found enthusiasm. We have got a chance to forget our past and start afresh, because of these plays".

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Mr. Kattimani spoke of how one individual had been transformed. "I had given the role of Gandhi to an individual with beautiful diction. He was angry when I cast him. He had an angry nature. The other prisoners would tell him, you should not use such bad words when you are playing the role of Gandhi, of Basavanna. One morning I went and saw he had bathed in cold water and was reading the Basavanna verses while walking barefoot. He stopped eating non veg also."

And as Maaranayaka comes back from killing the king he is hosting, as the three witches dance and chant their evil plots, these prisoners find release from the often harsh reality of their lives.

Convict Vidyananda Shetty described the feeling. "Working together as a team when we are rehearsing, we do not feel we are in jail," he said.

Theatre, they say, is a liberating experience. Taking part in these plays has been a life-changing experience for them, giving them a new lease of hope and a sense of self-worth.