Voice to the Voiceless: The Power of People's Theatre in India

Even from the early Sanskrit tradition, theatre has been used in India to address social issues. Folk theatre publicly admonished evil-doers in society, and in the 19th century it became an important medium for raising popular consciousness against British rule. As the Independence movement developed, many plays written for the theatres of Calcutta and other cities risked censorship with their vigorous themes of cultural and political nationalism.
Founded in 1941, the Indian People's Theatre Association, aimed at developing rural audiences gave a further impetus, and the street theatre movement evolved from the explosion of radical political theatre in the late 1940s, dramatising the injustices of capitalist and caste exploitation. The government, too, has used plays on themes like birth control, use of fertilizers, and health care.
This book first outlines Peoples Theatre for development worldwide, before looking at the folk theatre of India. It also examines how the street and social action theatre groups continue the folk tradition in the changed socio-political circumstances. The author presents a critique of these two forms of Peoples Theatre and suggests how theatre by the people about their own problems, using sound techniques and indigenous elements, can be a means for them to become involved in social-awareness building activities.