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

From early times, theatre in India has addressed social issues. Folk-theatre publicly admonishes evil-doers, and in the 19th century it raised popular consciousness against British rule. As the independence movement grew, many plays risked censorship. Founded in 1941, the Indian People's Theatre Association developed rural audiences, while the street theatre movement evolved from the explosion of radical political theatre in the late 1940s, dramatising capitalist and caste exploitation. The Indian government has used plays for public education on themes like birth control and the use of fertilisers.