বিশ শতকের ছয় জন নাট্যকারের একাঙ্ক : সময়ের বহুস্তরী চিন্তন/ Bish Shotoker Chhoy Jon Natyokarer Ekank : Shomoyer Bohustori Chinton

Abstract

In the history of twentieth-century Bengali dramatic literature, the one-act play is not merely a minor or short artistic form; rather, it may be regarded as a condensed artistic document of a turbulent era. The primary objective of this research is to analyze the social, political, and psychological evolution of the time through the one-act plays of six eminent playwrights of the twentieth century.

       The twentieth century was a period of unprecedented transformation in the history of Bengal. Events such as the two World Wars, the Bengal Famine of the 1940s, the Partition of India, communal riots, and later the Naxalite movement profoundly altered the worldview of the Bengali people. This research attempts to examine how the intensity and structural compactness of the one-act play, in contrast to the extended framework of full-length drama, proved more capable of capturing the spirit of this rapidly changing time.

       The journey of Bengali one-act drama began with the literary contributions of Manmatha Ray. This study will discuss in detail how his one-act plays portrayed contemporary political realities under the veil of mythological and historical narratives. In the plays of Bijon Bhattacharya, one can hear the anguished voices of oppressed people protesting against social injustice, the struggles of peasants, and the erosion of human existence. According to Utpal Dutt, theatre is a powerful instrument of social change. His one-act plays vividly depict the resistance of ordinary people against the oppression of landlords and state power, serving as documents of uncompromising struggle. The central theme of his one-act plays is retaliation against oppression. On the other hand, the one-act plays of Mohit Chattopadhyay introduce modernist elements, where urban alienation, existentialism, and surrealist techniques dominate—these aspects will also be examined. In the plays of Manoj Mitra, this study will explore how, beneath the surface of folk forms, the anguish of the oppressed classes and social satire emerged as powerful commentaries on their time.

       This research will primarily be conducted through text-based analysis. By examining collected data and dramatic texts, it will attempt to demonstrate how, even within the limited scope of one-act plays, these playwrights successfully represented political instability, the psychological complexities of the middle class, and the suffering of marginalized people in a multidimensional manner.

       One-act plays have been written in response to the doubts, crises, and existential questions of different eras. During the 1920s, a period of new ideas in Bengali fiction, the interwar years, and the era of the People’s Theatre movement, the form and content of one-act plays evolved in distinct ways. Playwrights repeatedly demonstrated that drama could remain relevant to its time. The depth and breadth contained within the narrative of one-act plays remain equally meaningful and relevant across all ages and periods.