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Unit 18: One Act Play: Chitra by Rabindranath Tagore: Background of the Text

18.1 Chitra’s Background and Its Importance Notes

Chitra: A Play in One Act is a play written by Bengali poet and Indian guru Rabindranath Tagore.
Works by Tagore were largely based on classic Indian literature and ancient Sanscrit scriptures.
Chitra is based on a story from the Mahabharata and is about the characters Arjuna and the kings
daughter, Chitrangada. Arjuna asks the king, Chitravahana, for his daughters hand in marriage.
Arjuna and Chitrangada set out to have a child who will in the future take the throne and one day be
king. Chitra is a highly recommended play for those who are interested in the writings of author
Rabindranath Tagore and also for those who enjoy works based on ancident Indian stories.
In the play Chitra by Rabindranath Tagore, the stage directions have been omitted on purpose
according to Tagore’s wishes if the play were to ever be put into print. The setting is very minimal
which is noted at the beginning of the play when the editor says, “The dramatic poem “Chitra” has
been performed in India without scenery–the actors being surrounded by the audience” . With this
type of play, I think it would be beneficial to create a vast, beautiful setting as described by the
characters thoughts and what they say during the play. Making this shorter play into a movie would
also create a bigger audience and give more room for creativity. By doing these two things the Western
audience would have a better understanding of the meaning of the play and it would create a wider
viewing area so the play would become more visible in the drama world.(I will mainly talk about the
setting as if it was being directed on a stage, but I will add in parts about directing a movie as well).
Since Tagore opted for no stage directions, there is no exact setting mentioned in the preface to Scene I.
In Arjuna’s character description, the reader finds that he is of “”warrior caste,” and during the
action is living as a Hermit retired in the forest.” Having no specific setting can change a play drastically
but it also has no limitations on what a director can do with the play to make it more entertaining.
Going through the play scene by scene, the setting can be changed many times from a lavish forest or
a sparkling river to a place in the sky where humans can meet and talk to their gods.
Scene I starts with Chitra speaking with two gods, Madana and Vasanta to which no setting is clear
because the characters do not give a description in their dialogue. For this scene, I would create a
stage with colorful blue, pink, yellow, and white clouds completely covering the floor. Madana and
Vasanta would be walking together towards the center of the stage and Chitra would meet them
halfway, speaking her first line as both parties stop in the middle. There would be a background
screen showing the different seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter at a very fast pace. The
background represents Vasanta who is “Lord of the Seasons” and the year that Chitra has to be
beautiful. The clouds give a depth to the meaning that Madana and Vasanta are not mortal and they
represent Madana who is “Lord of Love.” The clouds and the background would help the Western
audience understand that the gods are not human and the setting is not on Earth.
Scene II begins with Arjuana saying, “Was I dreaming or was what I saw by the lake truly there?” In
this scene, I would re-create as realistic a lake as I could on a stage. Putting grass around the stage
would be pertinent because I think that it would make the beauty of the new Chitra stand out while
it reflected on the lake. The lake would be made of mirrors since Arjuna says, “She bowed herself
above the shining mirror of the lake and saw the reflection of her face,”. The mirrors could show the
reflection perfectly and in turn, the audience would know that the play was about self confidence.
The grass would reflect in the mirror lake as well and create a beautiful scene which would represent
Chitra’s transformation from a woman who was boyish, to a very feminine figure. This scene feels as
if it takes place in the late afternoon as the sky turns to dusk so on the background screen I would
have a sun slowly setting as Chitra and Arjuna spoke with each other to show the passing of time.
The scene ends with a bit of a fight between the two, so I would have the stage darken to show the
feelings between Chitra and the man she is in love with.
Scene III has Chitra speaking with the gods again, so I would bring back the scenery from scene I, but
I would have fire on the background screen to emphasis Chitra’s anger toward her own decision to
become beautiful. Chitra says, “Ah, god of love, what fearful flame is this with which thou hast
enveloped me!”. The vast array of clouds from scene I would be included, but the stage would be a bit
darker as to downcast them so the focus would be on the fire in the background. Also, in scene III,
Chitra describes what happened the previous night with Arjuna which is very important. If this were

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