![]() The conscious use of performance for these reasons as an all-India phenomenon can be traced to the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). This organization sought to raise social and political awareness through theatre and other art forms. Reacting to the fascism and imperialism of the 1940s, the artists and intellectuals of IPTA saw themselves as a socialist vanguard. IPTA productions, involving proscenium and street or open-air performances, never really became grass-roots theatre. However, they were the first to include traditional forms and enlist folk artists, realizing that the 'masses' already had performance idioms used for effective communication. Following IPTA, official agencies were among the earliest to pick up on the advantages of theatre for consciousness-raising and information dissemination. In a country with low literacy and high population, theatre, especially street theatre, provided a low-cost and immediate means of reaching the illiterate. Whereas IPTA included rural performers in its fold, the Indian government encouraged folk artists, often monetarily or through other forms of patronage. This is just to include given social messages in their particular repertoires. The government's model of development was certainly not about people's struggle in the revolutionary sense, but focused instead on education, family planning, hygiene, building of pit latrines, and other such national concerns. Other organizations also took up similar themes. The mobilization of theatre for science literacy by the Kerala Sahitya Sangharsh Parishad is a notable example. In the 1980s and 1990s, NGOs, non-partisan activist societies, and grass-roots groups all over the country increasingly began to use street theatre as a means of social change. Theatre for development now covers subjects as diverse as sexual health, female infanticide, gender, and Dalit concerns. The ideology remains, social progress, but the idea of what constitutes progress gradually evolved. It reflects the historical shift in the notion of development, where earlier agendas of people's struggle and nation building are now joined by a focus on human and individual rights. ![]() Some individuals and organizations reacted to the passive nature of such 'theatre or the oppressed'. They opted to experiment with theatre in ways that include and involve the target groups. Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, particularly the technique of 'forum theatre', was adopted by workers in different parts of India. In forum theatre, actors present a pressing problem, but instead of providing answers, invite the audience to enact possible solutions. These are then resisted by the actors in socially realistic ways, giving rise to discussion and exploration of the issue through theatre. The goal is two fold such as to look for practicable solutions and more importantly to encourage spectators to act. The term spectators can be explained as to become 'spect-actors' i.e. as a step toward becoming active participants in their own struggles. Jana Sanskriti is based in rural West Bengal. This is specially innovative and successful in its practice of forum theatre, setting up over forty units across the state as well as elsewhere. This usually mobilizes such movements as anti-arrack, anti-dowry, and demand for health care. They pay particular attention to gender, collaborating with women's NGOs to sensitize audiences while simultaneously empowering women to come forward and seek their own answers through theatre. ![]() Throughout the history of Indian theatre for development, there has been a belief that folk forms are uniquely suited to communicate to the multitudes. In contrast to the governmental approach of providing messages for distribution, the collaboration of Alarippu in Delhi with Pandavani performer Shanti Bai Chelak in Pirda instructively engages the rural artist herself. Chelak incorporates powerful gynocentric performances, reflecting her own sophisticated understanding of gender, in her repertoire. Grass-roots troupes also draw on traditional forms and include village actors. Groups dealing with Dalit problems, such as Chennai Kalai Kuzhu, Chemmani and the feminist theatre of M. Jeeva claim to use Dalit folk expression as a conscious political stance. Furthermore, some traditional performers themselves have taken up issues relating to development. Theatre on the environment by Terukkuttu artist P. Rajagopal of Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam offers one such example. |
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