Matiyaburj: A Play Adapting Rashomon in an Indian Context

Matiyaburj

The play is set amid the ruins of medieval Matiyaburj, where characters take shelter from a storm. The central incident involves a feudal lord, his wife, and a bandit named Tajomaru. The feudal lord is murdered and his wife is dishonoured. There are four differing perspectives on the events: the bandit, the wife, the dead feudal lord speaking through a medium, and a woodcutter who claims to witness everything. The bandit claims he killed the feudal lord, the wife presents herself as a victim, the dead feudal lord asserts he committed suicide, and the woodcutter says all three are lying. The ruins symbolize societal moral decay.

Writer

Author Ramesh Chandra Shah was born on November 15, 1937, in Almora, Uttarakhand. His novels include Gobhar Ganesh, Utkal Ghulam, Pooja Par, Chak Par Ganesh, and Swanayak, for which he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014. He adapted the film story Rashomon into a script for the Bharat Bhavan Rangmandal at the request of late Shri B. V. Karanth.

Director

Jayant Deshmukh began his theatre journey in 191 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and was a regular member of the Bharat Bhavan Rangmandal, Bhopal, from 1982 to 1995. He founded the organization Ekrang in Bhopal and has directed numerous plays, receiving the Chhattisgarh Government's art award, Chakradhar Samman.

Director’s Note

The play tells the story of three individuals who each consider themselves guilty of a murder, presented through flashbacks showing both truth and falsehood. The Japanese tale of Rashomon is set in an Indian context, replacing the Rashomon Gate with Matiyaburj, where a monk, a woodcutter, and a wigmaker discuss the incident.

Group

Ekrang was established by Shri Jayant Deshmukh in 1990 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and later staged productions under the banner of Ekrang Theatre Group in Mumbai.