Theatre

Actor, Director, Producer, Playwright and Author.

The actor in Bharat Gopy, by his own submission, owed his allegiance to theatre. Theatre was his first love and he remained wedded to it even after cinema adopted him in later years. Remaining true to both screen and stage was a tough dance which not many actors in history have managed to do well. During the course of his prolific career, Bharat Gopy acted in more than 100 stage productions, authored five plays including two for children, pioneered the arena style of stagecraft in Kerala, and directed five productions, including his own ‘Rajavu, Rajyam, Rajakkanmar’, in 1974.

Gopy’s mother once recollected how once as a child, he had donned the guise of the local deity Kali in a play act with his friends, leaving her petrified. The local temple rituals and theatre performances played their part in shaping the actor in him. In his early days of association with theatre, Gopy thought of himself more as a “facilitator and event manager” rather than a performer himself. Yet destiny came knocking on his doors.

His first outing as a theater actor was in Jagathi NK Achari’s ‘Karakku Company’ (1952) while he was still in school, when he also used to moonlight as the editor, publisher and circulation manager of ‘Kalakusumam’, a monthly literary magazine. It was later at a college summer camp that he got on stage as Damu, his first leading role in PonkunnamVarkey’s ‘Njanoradhikapattaanu’, which also had his close friend Karamana Janardhanan Nair debuting on stage. Decades later, Karamana’s son’s onscreen debut would also be closely connected with Bharat Gopy – through his tele-film ‘MaraviyudeManam’, in 2005.

Bharat Gopy’s association with theatre could be divided broadly into two phases – his early years with G Sankara Pillai’s ‘Prasadhana Little Theatre Group’ (till the mid-70′s) and with Kavalam Narayana Panikker’s ‘Thiruvarangu’ (till the mid -80′s). He engaged with theater as a manager, actor, director, playwright and author proving his brilliance in each department.

Prasadhana Little Theater Group – The Early years.

Bharat Gopy was one of the founding members of the ‘Prasadhana Little Theatre Group’ of G Sankara Pillai in 1960, which was modelled on the ‘Irish Little Theatre’ movement and drew aesthetic inspiration from Western nuances of theatre. Bharat Gopy’swas their industrious and enthusiastic stage manager who was quite content remaining backstage. It was at the behest of G Sankara Pillai, that Gopy stepped forward, albeit with much trepidation to fill in for a miniscule part, as Raghavan, in the climax of ‘Abhayarthikal’. It turned out to be the most memorable part of the entire play when it went live. Bharat Gopy has always considered the trinity of G Sankara Pillai, CN Sreekantan Nair and TR Sukumaran Nair as his acharyas in classical theatre.

There were in all, 14 productions by ‘Prasadhana’ in the active decade Bharat Gopy was a part of the movement, the notable ones being ‘Abhayarthikal’, ‘Gurudakshina’, ‘Mrugathrishna’, ‘PeyPidichaLokam’, ‘BharataVakyam’, ‘Puja Muri’ – all authored by G Sankara Pillai and Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The Prasadhana group’s activities had petered out by the end of the 60′s and the group became almost defunct by 1971.The falling apart was a natural progression of Bharat Gopy’s growing disenchantment with the Western styles and methods of theatre adopted by G Sankara Pillai, and his desire to explore and inculcate himself with a style and form that was more rooted to the ethos and culture of his land. The search ended at Kavalam Narayana Panikker’s ‘Thiruvarangu’.

An Overview of the Early Years.

The Middle Years.

There was a phase of “middle years” as Bharat Gopy started exploring other styles of theatre that was borne out of his growing disenchantment with the Prasadhana school of thought in acting, and his desire to immerse himself in the myriad avenues of creativity that theatre offered by way of a wealth of talent in the land. By the early 70’s, Kerala’s theatre ethos had taken on a refreshingly myriad hue. These years saw whim collaborating with Karamana Janardhanan Nair’s theatre group, CN Sreekantan Nair’s productions of Lanka Lekshmi, Saketam, Kanchana Sita and Puthri amongst others. With the active involvement in Kavalam Narayana Panikker’s Thiruvarangu and his “Thanathu” ( Indigenous) theatre form of expression and performances, Bharat Gopy plunged headlong into a more rooted experience in choreography, re-disovering the roots of Kerala’s indigenous theatre forms and experimental stage productions, and sharing these in more fulfilling manner.

Thiruvarangu (now Sopanam ) – The Later years.

Established in 1964, the maiden production of ‘Thiruvarangu’ was the poetic drama ‘Sakshi’, written by Kavalam. Bharat Gopy was an active part of the cast and supporting crew in their presentation of the Malayalam version of Bodhayana’s ‘Bhagavadajjukam’ in 1971. This was followed by the ‘Daivathar’, written by Kavalam himself, in 1973 and directed by Kumara Varma which explored the native elements of rhythm and movement.

An Overview of his years with Thiruvarangu.

Nataka Niyogam.

Bharat Gopy’s love for theatre, his years of experience and perspectives are penned down in a book titled ‘NatakaNiyogam’, which went on to win the Best Book on Dramatics and Theatre at the Kerala State Awards for Professional Theatre for the year 2002.
 

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