The Play

Loka Shakuntala, though based on the popular story of Shakuntala, has been made special by bringing about a subtle analysis of socio-political aspects of the period along with poetic depiction of the love tale of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. It depicts the ashram & palace cultures in a poignant way. There is a socio-economic confrontation between two different cultures. The play has been designed in the Yakshagana style of acting. Under the able and watchful direction of the acclaimed theatre activist Chidambara Rao Jambe, the play has the distinction of having movement design by Sanjeev Suvarna and Kalamandal Prashob. Melodious music is provided by K.N. Nagaraj who also lent his soulful voice. Costume design is ably handled by Banee Sharad.

The Director

Born on 3rd January 1949 in Adderi, Karnataka, Shri Chidambara Rao Jambe is a well-known Kannada theatre director and cultural administrator. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Karnataka Nataka Academy awarded him for his theatre work in 1994, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi honoured him as the Director of the National Theatre Festival 2003, and he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2014 for his contribution to Indian theatre as a director.

Chidambara Rao Jambe is a well-known teacher of drama and was the Principal of Ninasam Theatre Institute, Heggodu for 22 years, and the Director of Mysuru Rangayana. He was trained in Yakshagana folk art of Dakshina Kannada.

The Playwright

Kuntagodu Vibhuthi Subbanna (20 February 1932 – 16 July 2005) was an acclaimed dramatist and writer of Kannada language. He was the founder of the world-famous Ninasam (Neelanakantheshwara Natya Sangha) drama institute in 1949. In 1991, he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts, in recognition of his contribution to enrich rural Karnataka with the world’s best films, and the delight and wonder of the living stage. He was awarded the Padmashri in 2004-5. He also established Akshara Prakashana, a publishing house, to publish literature related to theatre in Kannada, which included translations of plays from other languages.

The Group

Antharanga is a creative amateur theatre troupe identifying itself with several facets of socio-cultural arena for the past 37 years. Antharanga was formed in August 1980 to promote and involve itself & others in theatre with its different activities. Since then, it has traversed a golden path, establishing on the way many achievements which have attracted the attention of both the common person & the   discerning. Antharanga has been organizing a theatre festival every year inviting leading & upcoming troupes to stage plays along with its troupe, under its banner, on a grand scale. During the festival, Antharanga presents the Make-up Nani Award for senior make-up artists. Antharanga has encouraged its own creative people to direct plays for the troupe. It has stage more than 42 plays & seven street plays successfully. Antharanga has performed meaningful Kannada plays throughout Karnataka and also in many places like New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad etc. quite successfully.

Cast & Credits

On Stage                            Karthik Gowtham, Archana Shyam,

                                            Deepak Subramanya, Harsha Hosakere

                                            Sridhar Gowda, Pradeep kumar, Alok Urs,

                                            Anil Kulkarni, Bhargav Vasishta, Aravind MS,

                                            Rakesh Santosh Rahul, Ram Manjjonaath,

                                            Bhamini Nagaraju, Smita Kulkarni, Soumya Naik,

                                            Sumaana Muralidhar, Vasantha K

Movement Design          Sanjeeva Suvarna & Kalamandalam Prasobh

Music                                Nagaraj KN /Ravi Murur

                                           Mridanga Sharath

Costume Design             Banee Sharad

Make-up                          Ramakrishna Kannarapadi, Ramakrishna Belthur,

                                           Basavaraj, Sanchari Shashi

Set Property                    Maltesh Badiger

Set work                           Vishwanath Mandi and Team

Lighting                           Vinay Chandra

Organized & Managed by

Uncle Shyam, Muralidhar BV, Ramdev

Playwright                   K.V. Subbanna

Director                        Chidambara Rao Jambe

Contacts

Antharanga Havyasi Nataka Thanda

Heggodu

Sagara Shimoga Distt. Karnataka

E: jambe.adderi@gmail.com

The Play

Savitri, a middle aged woman, is dissatisfied with her circumstances. She has an unemployed son, a promiscuous teen daughter and a husband, who has failed to provide her emotional and financial security. She tries to find fulfilment in relationships outside her marriage, only to realize that all men are the same beneath different faces. What makes Mohan Rakesh’s portrait of Savitri, one of Hindi theatre’s first feminist icons, so gripping, is that one is never sure whether he admires her rage to get a grip on her life, or whether he suggests that she is a woman caught in her destiny and circumstances in the manner of a tragic Greek heroine.

Director’s Note

I thought of doing this play in eighties as an expressionistic farce. In the nineties again thought of doing in a simple manner but with controlled and more believable performance instead of actors’ greed to jump in to rhetoric and overplaying. At last now in 2018 got a chance to direct it for the theatre Olympics, when all my ideas and the ways of theatre have crossed to 21st century.

Hence, in this poetic theatre piece we, the team are trying to find out what all the sequences of the play mean to us at 2018.

The play a definite confluence of Sanskrit plays, Parsi theatre prototype characters is schemed and the approaches of the western playwrights like Tennessee Williams, Jean Anouilh poses multi-layered pressure for actors.

Thanks to the encouragement of Nalini, Rajesh Singh, Rana Santosh, Chetan and later on the whole team. Special Thanks to Neelu Dogra for having accepted the burden of Savitri. Thanks to Rajesh Bahl for designing the set and poster. Thanks to Vijay Srivastava for adjusting time in spite of busy schedule, Bharat Sharma and Devender Mann. Thanks to the Director of NSD and Festival Cell for the invitation to perform at the 8 Theatre Olympics.

The Director

A graduate from Utkal University and an NSD alumnus, Robin Das joined the National School of Drama teaching faculty in 1977-78. As a designer he has worked with important directors of the country and has produced exciting and innovative designs for over 50 plays of diverse genres.  As a director, he has brought forward many complex and important aspects of traditional Indian theatre, in the context of contemporary global theatre. He has also worked as an art director and actor for films and other media. As a senior teacher he has held many workshops with students, theatre groups, theatre institutes and at regional and tribal levels. He was awarded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in the year 2000 for his contribution in the theatre.

The Playwright

Born as Madan Mohan Guglani on 8 January 1925 in Amritsar (Punjab), Mohan Rakesh did M.A. in English and Hindi from Punjab University, Lahore. He was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani literary movement of Hindi literature in the 1950s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, Ashadh Ka Ek Din in 1958. He made significant contributions to the novel, short story, travelogue, criticism, memoir and drama. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968.

Cast & Credit

Kale Suit Wala Aadmi              Kaviraj Laique

Savitri                                          Neelu Dogra

Mahendranath                          Rana Santosh Kamal

Jagmohan                                   Rahil Bhardwaj

Juneja                                          Vijay Srivastava

Singhania                                    Chandan Kumar

Binni                                             Ankita Sharma

Kinni                                             Deepika Roy

Ashok                                           Chetan Padhiyar

Set Design                                   Rajesh Bahl

Light Design                               Avtar Sahni

Music                                           Vishala R Mahaley, Sourav Poddar

Properties                                    Mrinalini Pandey & Team

Choreography                             Vikram Mohan

Photography                               Shiv Bharadwaj

Executive Producer                   Devendra Man, Nalini, Rajesh Singh

Stage Manager                           Mrinalini Pandey

Playwright                               Mohan Rakesh

Director                                     Robin Das

Contacts

Robin Das

310 A, Shipra Suncity

Indrapuram, Ghaziabad, U. P.

M: +91 9811814121  

Mumbai, 8th April 2018: After a glorious run of 51 days across 17 cities of India, the historic event 8th Theatre Olympics drew to a colourful close here today.

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony. Hon’ble Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Culture, Dr. Mahesh Sharma and eminent theatre and film personality Shri Nana Patekar were Guests of Honour at the closing ceremony.

The closing ceremony was honoured by the gracious presence of Artistic Director, 8th Theatre Olympics, Shri Ratan Thiyam and presided over by Acting Chairman, National School of Drama Society, Dr. Arjun Deo Charan. Shri Theodoros Terzopoulos, Chairman of the International Committee of Theatre Olympics, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Shri M L Srivastava, and popular theatre and film personality Shri Nawazuddin Siddiqui were special guests at the closing ceremony. Director of National School of Drama, Prof. Waman Kendre, was also present on the occasion.

“We get many chances to show our strength and potentials, but 8th Theatre Olympics has given us unprecedented opportunity to show the power of our culture. 8th Theatre Olympics could not have been possible without the inspirational support of Dr. Mahesh Sharma, our beloved and visionary Culture Minister, Government of India. NSD is proud to have organised an event that has shown the cultural might of India, a vision shown by our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” says Director, National School of Drama Prof. Waman Kendre.

“I wish the Indian theatre with support of Indian government should dominate the world. The 9th Theatre Olympics will be jointly organised by Russia and Japan,” says Chairman of the International Committee of Theatre Olympics, Shri Theodoros Terzopoulos.

“I am really happy that Prof. Waman Kendre has taken theatre on another platform. I appreciate your work and thanks that you kept theatre alive, thanks for being associated with theatre for so long in all possible manner,” says eminent theatre and film personality Shri Nana Patekar.

“Our rich heritage and culture is the reason that India stands united today despite the diversity. My friends, Life is like Theatre. Like life, it goes on; it is only time, settings and people that change. It is true for this city Mumbai, which goes on in all situations. Entire nation should be woven in the cultural fabric to create a united India. Through Theatre Olympics, we have commenced our journey to reach that goal,” says Hon’ble Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Culture, Dr. Mahesh Sharma.  

“I thank Dr Mahesh Sharma and NSD to have selected Mumbai to organise the final phase of Theatre Olympics. Maharashtra is known as birthplace of cinema but actually much before that Maharashtra has been the centre for theatrical activities. Our theatre will flourish from generation to generation. Without even the technical aspects of movies, theatre is able to create the effect through acting, and hence our theatre will never die,” says Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis.

“Theatre is a place where we can reflect all emotions and sentiments of society. Politics also has a bit of theatre in this. If we do our role well, people give us support and when we fail to play our role, they reject us. This I see a parallel between the theatre and politics,” Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis adds.

“We thank Dr. Mahesh Sharma; he took this initiative and took Theatre Olympics on another level. I am grateful to the students and faculty of NSD who have supported all through the event. Also, I thank all the coordinators in the 17 cities who have worked very hard to make this a success,” says Acting Chairman, National School of Drama Society, Dr. Arjun Deo Charan.

‘Rang Shikhar’, a vibrant collage of tribal, folk and theatre performances, followed the closing ceremony. Renowned actors Shri Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shri Manoj Joshi, Ms. Himani Shivpuri, Shri Sachin Khedekar, along with well-known ventriloquist and puppeteer Shri Ramdas Padhye, famous Bharatnatyam dancer Ms. Sandhya Purecha and famed Lavani dancer Ms. Vaishali Jadhav, performed at the presentation.

The 8th Theatre Olympics was inaugurated by Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu on 17th February 2018 at the majestic Red Fort in New Delhi. This edition of Theatre Olympics brought together around 25,000 artists under the theme “Flag of Friendship”. The event witnessed 450 shows from more than 30 countries performed across 17 cities such as Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Imphal, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram, and Varanasi during the festival.

The 51-day long 8th Theatre Olympics, the biggest international theatre festival held in India for the first time, staged more than 400 plays and hosted 78 allied events including 34 Living Legend series, 29 Master Classes, 7 Interfaces, 6 national and international seminars and 2 workshops across 17 cities. Besides, about 600 ambience performances and 250 youth forum shows took place during the nationwide event.

Play: Caesarean Section: Essays on Suicide
Director: Jarosław Fret
Group: Teatr ZAR, Poland
Language: Non Verbal
Duration: 1 hr

The Play
The title of the performance is a metaphor for suicidal compulsion, and the involuntary force that pulls us back from the brink. It is about the potential of the necessary ability to prolong one’s breathing at the moment when one feels in the veins the pieces of glass that haven’t yet managed to reach the heart.
Caesarean Section’s musical structure was developed from a base of polyphonic Corsican songs, into which Bulgarian, Romanian, Icelandic and Chechen songs have been woven. It’s subtle power and energy owes a debt to composer Eric Satie, and his discovery of the intensity that can be transmitted by each and every drop of sound. Through contact with, and integration into, this contemporary theatre piece the traditional musical material becomes transformed and taken on a new form, becoming seamlessly interwoven with intensive movement by the performers. ZAR also acknowledges the great literary influence of Aglaya Veteranyi on this work.
During the research process, members of ZAR made several trips to Corsica in search of new material for the emerging musical score. Their active participation in paschal liturgy in Tox near Bastia represented a pivotal moment. Therefore the climax of the performance is characterised by the liturgical music of Corsican confraternities. While the score’s basic ‘tectonics’ are grounded in Corsican music, they have been interwoven by Bulgarian cries, calls and incantations to enhance the musical dramaturgy.

The Director
Jarosław Fret is the founder and leader of Teatr ZAR; theatre director and actor; Director of the Grotowski Institute; lecturer at the Ludwik Solski State Theatre School, Filia in Wrocław; and the curator of the theatre programme of Wrocław: European Capital of Culture 2016. In 1999–2002 he carried out a series of expeditions to Georgia, Armenia and Iran, conducting research into the oldest forms of religious music of Eastern Christianity. He was the Director of five performances of the theatre: Three parts of Gospels of Childhood the Triptych which have been staged in Los Angeles, Florence, San Francisco, Chicago, Sybin, Athens, Edinburgh, Madrid, Belgrade, Paris, Cairo, Seoul, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and New Delhi. In November 2013 he completed the work on Armine, Sister for which he elaborated original musical dramaturgy and special stage architecture. His newest piece Medeas, On Getting Across was premiered in 2016. He lectures and leads work sessions within Poland and internationally.

The Group
Teatr ZAR is a multinational group that was formed in Wrocław by apprentices of the Grotowski Institute and took shape during annual research expeditions to Georgia between 1999 and 2003. During these expeditions, the apprentices collected much musical material, including a core of centuries-old polyphonic songs that are probably the oldest forms of polyphony in the world. The name of the group, ZAR, is taken from the title of funeral songs, which in Caucasian tradition, among others in Svaneti, are the essence of singing understood as “column of sound”.
Work of Teatr ZAR attempts to demonstrate that theatre does not only relate to the word thea (Greek for “seeing”) but it is something that above all should be heard. From such hearing, deep images are born that would be impossible to create even by means of the most modern theatre technology; where the body of a singing actor shines and emanates with the energy of sound, of the song that lies within.

Cast & Credits
Women Kamila Klamut / Ditte Berkeley
Man Matej Matejka
Others Nini Julia Bang, Przemysław Błaszczak,
Alessandro Curti, Jarosław Fret, Aleksandra Kotecka,
Ewa Pasikowska, Orest Sharak, Tomasz Wierzbowski

Music Collaboration Mariana Sadowska
Collaboration on the
Movement Score Vivien Wood
Realization of Lights Jarosław Fret

Director Jarosław Fret

Contacts
Teatr Zar
Stowarzyszenie Teatr ZAR,
Rynek-Ratusz 27,
50-101 Wrocław, Poland
M: +48 693 927 324
E: magda@grotowski-institute.art.pl

A clip from the play:

https://youtu.be/kvsf_OiOiC0

Sujata Prasad, from Ministry of Culture addressing Journalists at the inaugural press conference. Waman Kendre, Director NSD can be seen in the foreground

The 8^th Theatre Olympics is being organized by National School of Drama under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India from 17^th February to 8^thApril 2018.

The world’s largest theatre festival would be held in 17 major cities of the country.

The inaugural ceremony will be held on 17^th of February in Red Fort at 6 PM.

The Honorable Vice-President of the country and Chief Guest Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu would grace the occasion at 6: 25 PM.

The scheduled arrival of Guest of Honor Minister of Culture (I/C) Dr. Mahesh Sharma is at 6: 20 PM.

The official inauguration begins at 6:30 PM.

The performance of cultural program ‘Geet Rang’ would begin at 7:10 PM.

About how Mohan discovered Ahimsa and became Mahatma
Shorter version published earlier as Discovering Ahimsa in IIC Diary Sep-Oct 2017

As a Part of IIC’s ‘Festival of the Arts’ 2017, Pierrot’s Troupe presented ‘Mohan Se Mahatma’, directed by Sayeed Alam. It was a play about the Champaran Satyagrah, an episode that happened a century ago. It introduced Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the Indian rural milieu. The performance was dedicated to the memory of the late Tom Alter, who had played this role, just before he passed away. The play opens with 55 year old Gandhi, enacted by Ravi Raj Sagar, who had picked up the role at such a short notice. We see Gandhi writing notes about theSatyagrah for his autobiography “My Experiments with Truth”. In the chapter titled, ‘Face to face with Ahimsa’, Gandhi shows how he evolved,at Champaran, his most potent non-violent weapon of the century.

The director uses a minimalistic style of presentation, which is very potent and effective. With just a change of lighting, accompanied by the sound of achugging steam engine, he creates a Railway platform and heralds the arrival of the then 47 year old Mohan, in a Kathiawari dress,enacted by Sayeed, who goes on to be dubbed as Mahatma by the end of the struggle.

While we see his partners in crime, the intelligentsia of Bihar, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Kripilani and a host of others, simultaneously, the story also demonstrates the contributions of the people and the peasants of Bihar towards Indian freedom movement. The high point of the play is when the British find it necessary to nip Gandhi’s movement in the bud, by filing charges against him.However, seeing the groundswell of public support, they panic and before he could appear in the court, withdraw charges against him. The country thus had its first direct lessons in Civil Disobedience.

rajivchan@gmail.comIHC/rajivchan@gmail.com has invited Dancer Geeta Chandran and her Natya Vriksha Dance Company to present ANEKANTA at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The key leitmotif of Chandran’s ANEKANTA is that there are multiple
realities to every issue – cultural, political, social, economic and, in
fact, every aspect of life and living! ANEKANTA celebrates acceptance of
multiple truths, embracing diversity and of universal acceptance.

In group choreographies, Geeta Chandran views ANEKANTA through dramatic
dance strategies like an ALARIPPU presented in three speeds; of exploring
GRIHABHEDA through movement; and finding linkages between SOUND and
SILENCE! She also presents NABAGUNJARA, a thrilling episode from an Oriya
Mahabharata.

In her solo choreography, Geeta’s abhinaya will throw the spotlight on
RAVANA, King of Lanka, known in all three worlds as an exemplar Shiva
Bhakta. And yet, universally considered a monstrous villain. Yet, within
the Valmiki Ramayana itself, there is evidence that he was so much more.
And these shades offer the dancer an opportnuity to explore ANEKANTA within
the context of the Ramayana.

Music for ANEKANTA is designed by Geeta Chandran in close collaboration
with K. Venkateshwaran and Dr. S. Vasudevan. This lyrical music-scape is
further enhanced with rhythmic inputs by K. Sivakumar and Lalgudi Sri
Ganesh adding verve and vibrancy to the production.

Yet another path-breaking dance concept by Dancer GEETA CHANDRAN, ANEKANTA
aspires to bring valuable oxygen to the larger public discourse on
identity. It is a powerful artistic statement of Dancer Geeta Chandran who
has moved tradition forward with her strategic performances.

Sangeet Natak Akademi presents Special Documentation and presentation of ‘MAND’ folk songs of Rajasthan by Shri Kachra Khan Mangniar on 28th June 2017, 4:00pm onward at Meghdoot -III, Rabindra Bhawan, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi – 110001.
Entry Free

by

Manohar Khushalani

Having been associated with Street Theatre from late seventies my memories of Jan Natya Manch are equally old. It was way back in 1977 that I first met Safdar Hashmi. Our group, Workshop Theatre, which was formed after a workshop with Badal Sircar was rehearsing for William Hinton’s, Fanshen, a play about communist revolution in a village in China. Safdar had come to meet the late Sudhanshu Mishra. He sat through our rehearsal and gave many suggestions. Our group contained people, most of whom later migrated to Television – Sudhir Mishra, Sushmita Mukherjee, Bina Pal, Anil Mehta. Only Anamika Haksar and I stuck on to theatre. But the two years that we did street theatre were full of intensity. Our most memorable production was Badal Sircar’s Bhooma, for which Badal Da himself came specially to Delhi to do a workshop with us. Often people wept in our shows, and so did we, shamelessly, while performing. Although I was also performing in the Proscenium Arch, this liberty one could only take in a street play. When we came in touch with M.K. Raina, most of Workshop Theatre members opted to work in his Street Production of Juloos and later in Spartacus & Mother.

Our first test of our beliefs came when Raina took our performance of Mother to the Brecht International Festival held in Calcutta in 1978. There we were greeted by the biggest floods in the last 100 years of the city. While our street plays dealt with the underdog and deprived sections of society we were confronted with a dilemma. The floods created a pool of neck deep water around the Dharamshala that we stayed in. The water remained for three days and we were holed up on the first floor at the same time that the pavement dwellers were living all around the Dharamshala with their aluminum utensils floating before their eyes . We were helpless – unable to offer them refuge in our own rooms. What kind of street theatre were we doing? We often debated on whether doing plays was enough and whether it should not be supplemented with social work. The answers came much later when Maya Rao, Anuradha Kapoor and myself met by chance at SRC and decided to form Theater Union. Later we co-opted fellow Prayog members like Vinod Dua , Ein Lal and Ragini Prakash, along with women activists like Urvashi Butalia and Sudesh Sehgal.

Our first play was prepared in association with several women’s groups. It was called Balatkar Kanoon . The Rape Bill was before a Select Committee, whose recommendation would be considered before it became an Act. We examined the bill, discovered the lacunae as well as the strengths. We created a play which would warn the select committee about the loop holes while educating the common women about their rights as per the Bill. During this play we had an opportunity to interact with social workers who worked in the very communities that we performed in. Needless to say this gave us more satisfaction. Much later TU prepared a play on Multinational Drug Companies who were dumping in the Third World, all those drugs which were banned in the Developed World. This play we prepared in association with Voluntary Health Association of India and got lot of information from Mira Shiva. This information we used to create an educative play in a comic vein. This play too was a useful supplement for medical workers. We also did our bit by distributing printed literature at the end of the show. However, by now the debate on whether a street theatre group should also do social work had resolved itself. It had now dawned on us that we were performers and we should stick to that. If we created a consciousness in just a few people it would spread to others by conduction.

Some times people had created doubts amongst us about the reach of street theatre. Television was cited as a medium with a greater reach. One still remembers a talk that Safdar Hashmi gave at the Jawahar Lal Nehru University City Auditorium which was so prophetic. At that time few people owned TVs. There was only one Doordarshan channel and no private channels. Hashmi warned that TV will create antisocial vibes. While performing arts are a community affairs and bring many people under one roof the television will devided people by restricting them to their homes. He cited the example of people who visit homes of Television owners. Often the host spoke to his guest by using his ear as his mouth. Since his mouth was turned away as he himself had his eyes glued to Television. Ofcourse he saw a deliberate conspiracy in this and felt that television had been created to divide people, to break up communities and to destroy the collective spirit. So inspired was I by what he said that I went up to the stage to congratulate him.

But the real truth about TV having a greater reach has been resolved in my mind by history. The answer lies in credibility. A human being looking into your eyes and delivering a messages has greater credibility than an electronic media supported by vested interests and money power. When we did the play against Bride burning, just 200 shows were enough to create Media & Government attention on the issue. Soon the issue was seen everywhere in newspapers on television in and in films. Mera Devan’s award winning film on Bride Burning, used our play’s sound track interspersed with her own visuals. Theatre Union performed shoulder to shoulder with Jan Natya Manch at many venues. There we got to see each others plays – appreciate and criticise each others work. While Safdar appreciated the choreography and aesthetics of TU productions, he felt that the message was not direct. We felt that Janam plays were hard hitting but some times (not always) there was a poster effect. Though I must say Janam productions have been changing over the years and the last play that I saw looked like a Theatre Union play to me. Since TU had performers who also acted on the proscenium stage our productions were bound to be different. However this I am talking about the eighties. Now Janam has also performed on stage – it is alive and kicking while Theatre Union has gone into hibernation.

I still remember how it was considered a taboo for a street theatre worker to perform on stage. The first time I remember Safdar showing an interest about problems of Proscenium theatre was when the Bombay police act was introduced in Delhi and theatre workers were up in arms against it. Said Hashmi in a seminar specially organised against it; “this was the first step towards government censorship of theatre”. I was particularly agitated about it since I felt that police was ill equipped to understand the nuances of theatre. Little did I realise at that time, that in effect, given the usually inefficiency of the official machinery, getting a police license, irritating though it may be, was just another formality to be completed. Also, street theatre, which had the maximum potential of a political irritant was outside the purview of a performance license since these performance were not in an auditorium. Yet Hashmi spoke most ardently followed by M.K. Raina who had a foot in both the boats.

Street theatre does not mean just taking up any issue , assembling a bunch of enthusiasts, and converging the first street corner one comes across. It may take months to write a nukkad natak script. Workshop Theatre took three months to translate Badal Sircar’s Bhooma and six months to further evolve the play! An issue may arise from a slum. It may be wife beating, or a drunkard husband, or a middle class dowry problem. It is chosen, by a general consensus, workshop sessions are organised and a script is evolved keeping in mind the target audience. Few people know that Badal Sircar’s Juloos has been performed in Pakistan as well. Street theatre has attracted a few people because of the romanticism involved in the whole exercise. Since they are often exposed, the police which never, likes references to its own brutalities, often tries to stop the performances. Sometimes even the audience gets pulled up because of the personal, one to one relation ship that this medium tries to establish. When the police tried to stop a performance of Juloos by Prayog at Connaught Place’s central park, more than a decade ago, the audience intervened on behalf of the performers and battled with the police. Similarly, during the Emergency, when the police stopped a street performance at Curzon Park, Calcutta, the common people responded by turning up in thousands to watch the same performance the next day. The romanticism, however, wears off after some time. Only a few who are genuinely committed stick to the movement. “If ever you do street theatre, forget that you will be happy, forget that you will be famous, forget that you will be rich,” warns Badal Sircar. However, Safdar Hashmi’s unfortunate martyrdom has changed all that. “people have become more conscious of a performer’s right to perform. But Street Theatre which appeared to be on the decline is bound to rise up again and fight the menaces of social evils. Be it with plays like Janam’s unforgettable Aurat or Theatre Union’s similarly memorable Toba Tek Singh.

(This Article was first published by Jan Natya Manch and is being republished to commemorate the IFA event at Studio Safdar titled An Evening on Street Theatre in Delhi on Friday, June 23, 2017)

Synopsis of six plays performed at Bharat Rang Mahotsav’16

The Mother of a Traitor
It was performed in Dollu Kunitha Form. It is one of the popular folk forms of Karnataka. It is generally played during festivals and fairs that take place in the name of respected regional Gods. It is a form of Drum dance where large drums are adorned with colored cloths and hung around the neck of men. The songs used in this dance usually have religious and battle fervour. The main emphasis is on quick and light movements of the feet and legs. It is a short story revolving around the concept of motherhood. The whole region is afraid of a traitor and his group for their menace due to which the life of people has got stuck with the malevolent blackness of their cry. The mother of traitor wanders around the walls of cit in quest of hers son’s existence and witness a woman kneeling down in front of her son’s corps. The woman says, “May he be accursed and the womb that bore him!” The mother meets her son and her son started expressing pride on his desks. Dealing with the conflict of love for her son on one side and country on the other, she finally kills her son, who is resting on her breasts.

The Transparent Trap
It was a non verbal play. The body language of the actors used was fantastic. Plastic is an important part of our lives. We, humans have used it in almost each and everything except the edible stuff. But we do used it in packing of edible stuff. We used plastic daily because of it’s extreme user friendly character. It is one of the prime reasons for global warming and ha skilled many aquatic, terrestrial and amphibian species. One of us invented it and now all of us use it extensively. A material which was invented for betterment and become the killer of humanity itself. This hazardous entity is destroying, choking and trapping all over. This play tries to search for solutions to find way out of plastic trap.

Tar aaya
It is based on introduction of tar roads to a small village in Mysore. The tar roads bring division of opinion between the youth and the more rigid elders of the village, seen as clash of modernity and traditional values. But interestingly, it is the village elders who are in favour of modernity while the young youth fights to keep it at bay. From a simple narrative, the story plunges into diverse issues of caste , religion and the role of women in rural society. The story refuses to submit to traditional defined roles and creates newer perspective of each issue. The nature of the story is inspirational even though it is grounded in reality. Though the ending is quite tragic as in the fight between urbanization and corruption, an innocent child is killed in the molten tar.

Dopehri
Dopehri is set in the streets of Lucknow where sits the haveli of an old lonely woman, Amma Bi. He brings to us her story, stringing us through the emotions and nuances of these characters and the milieu of an old Lucknow. It transports us through Amma Bi’s journey from loneliness to self discovery. It is based on the novella written by Pankaj Kapur and now rendered by him on stage, with the help of lights and music.

Nyayapriya
An underground progressive gathering arrangements to kill a British Collector in provincial India. Tej Pratap, a criminal living in Canada, comes and joins the gathering. Shekhar, prevalently called Mastana in the gathering, on seeing kids riding in the British authority’s carriage, does not toss the bomb as anticipated the learned day. There is warmed contention in the gathering as a result of this. Damyanti, a senior individual from the gathering, is infatuated with Shekhar. The gathering pioneer Baldev arrangements to toss the bomb two days after the fact. Shekhar is captured after the passing of the Collector. A watchfulness officer tries to purchase off Shekhar in the jail. English gatherer’s significant other and Pandit Trivedi visit Shekhar in the jail with the goal that he apologizes. Shekhar is hanged to death. Upon the arrival of the hanging Damyanti, profoundly lamented, chooses to toss the following bomb and endure a comparative destiny.

Land where the Life is Good
Land Where Life Is Good discusses the different personalities that are concealed in the covers of a solitary character called ‘Indian’. It tries to take a gander at the disarray that this activity of digestion for nationhood has made in the brains of the present era, particularly with regards to Nagaland. Does there exists a performance personality of a man or would we say we are today the result of numerous characters? What is bona fide – the old or the new? What are the bits of character that we clutched and why do we relinquish different bits? These are a portion of the inquiries that roused this generation. This is an endeavor to address these inquiries through the voyage of a youthful Naga kid – Tako, his unwavering pooch and his mystical performer companion Nogazenba. At no time do we attempt to answer the inquiries raised, on the grounds that for every person, the answers are distinctive.