Street Theatre

This thesis explores a pedagogical enquiry that has transformed the way I think and the way I teach. I used a variety of critical and theatre theories to frame my enquiry and for four years consecutively, visited a non-government organization (NGO) in India that uses theatre as an alternate pedagogical tool. I reflected upon the methodological differences between the theatre practices of the NGO and my practices. I then turned my enquiry inward to consider how my learning informed my teaching practices. I then created an alternate theatre project for some students in the American Midwest with Ashok, an artist from India. Ashok spent twelve days training the students in what I refer to as action theatre, while I coordinated, observed and reflected. This theatre is a form of social activism; it is designed to provide a forum for the students to express their sociopolitical views and raise individual and collective social awareness in the process. After the training period, the student...

The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural analysis in the works of the Armenian filmmaker Serghei Paradjanov, made from the perspective of his nucleus film ”Sayat-
Nova”. The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not
allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. ”Sayat-Nova”, this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero’s life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The ”Sayat-Nova” biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director’s creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and eternal life. These aspects are analysed from a new aesthetic-artistic perspective.
The text adapts fragments from the author’s book, ”Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucharest: “Arca Învierii” Publishing House, 2011).
____________________________________
Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas-
tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal „Sayat-Nova”. Metoda hermeneutică
atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmice uzuale. „Sayat-Nova”, acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţiei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic „Sayat-Nova” este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică.
Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei „Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov”
(Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).

ISBN 97814985 49745 (hardback: alk. paper) ISBN 978 1 4985 497 52 (electr onic) 29 All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval iysten:s, without written permission from the publisher, except by a réviewer who may quote passages m a revlew.

The paper draws on the speaker’s 25-year history of busking in UK city centres, and notes the increasing importance of playful loitering in the urban space. It notes the changing attitudes of the general public to costumed performance in the city in recent years and considers the role of leisure technology, CCTV and the roving nature of street-policing in influencing public response to live urban performance. It suggests that singing– particularly acapella singing – brings a necessary breath to the streets and is essential to maintain. The paper further argues that costumed performance in the current climate effects a disruptive and transgressive intervention that troubles the British public with an uneasy nostalgia. It considers whether buskers increasingly provoke 'unheimlich' conditions with song, and asks how performers can adapt to changing social and legal conditions that render the simple act of public singing ghostly, subversive and queer. The paper reflects on the history of street-singing in the UK, suggesting that it has always enjoyed an ambivalent relationship to commerce, and brought mixed responses from the public and from city authorities. It considers the recent imposition of £1,000 fines by Camden Council, London on buskers performing without a license. It asks what cultural or economic values street-singers represent and whether these values are increasingly in tune or at odds with the British public’s perception of normalcy, performance and the function of city spaces. Noting Michael de Certeau’s ideas on space, the paper asks whether buskers effect a necessary delinquency to the ‘practiced place’ of the street, and how the singing, busking, performative body can resist marginalisation and ‘inscribe itself into the interstices of the codes’ of the urban space it both ‘undoes and displaces’.

The following results in an equation worked out via experiencing ongoing gang stalking and v2k harassment via this stalking. It is commonly known as targeted individualism but has recently exalted into empowered individuals. Many reasons have been given and organized stalking with street theatre has all been a part of my life as I have witnessed the behaviour assist the sculpting of social engineering during the COVID-19 pandemic where social conditioning is giving people the influence of targeting others via phone apps which will result in mass targeting. This is a deadly game that is inspired by cyber torture of the kind I have experienced which is connected to DEW directed energy weapons by persons in my local area influenced by illuminati undetectable program to manufacture programmed and mind-controlled victims. The program has infiltrated many as flying monkeys and clowns by proxy who all fear those with a DEW weapon as well as causing a Carnot cycle like spin off where people do not realize they are being used in this program including gang stalkers. Due to the capability of these weapons many factors have to be brought into play but this is all part of the side effects of remote neural monitoring and remote neural manipulation. I am a non-dualistic solitarian druid and my life and my life and the lives of many in my community have been changed due to the persistent harassment and constant monitoring of my every thought and manipulation of them to cause fear ,confusion ,shame and even suicide. The majority of cases are single women who make up 70 percent of the total targets in this program where victims can easily be found online under target individual groups on Facebook. This behaviour by others has coincided with social engineering that relates to trans human perceptions due to the weapons involved and number of people who are used by a person with an M.O which is sadistic, attempted murder, broadcast swingers, criminality, perversion and voyeurism to name just a few aspects. Due to my ability to remain alive in this situation I have evolved a simple equation which I ran past a logician with a master's degree and therefore am happy to share with like-minded victims, academics, scholars etc The main basis of the equation is based around philosophical phenomenology but steps beyond this point as technology used is unknown to the target. Basic phenomenology is in itself a deep subject but this being so causes further study of phenomenology for one has to ask deeper questions into psychology, sociology ,weaponry ,human rights and many other areas that all fit into the human psyche. A false human hive mind is created outside of the contemporary understanding of hive minds and hive mind groups who are used to monitor the target for reasons that now align spiritually with biblical prophecy and the watchers a.k.a fallen angel and such prophecies, further it aligns with agenda 21 and the attempt to enslave humanity .When one takes the times we are living in and actually take note of empowered individuals like myself who feel like targets and can be proven as targets by this equation we can see how far or what intent is being implemented to separate humans from nature and the collapse of religion in society and countries. Its biggest intent I feel is to kill the will intellect and soul of a person and persons via hyper game theory whilst those placed in the program have no idea of the intent of the elites thus trans humanism. This is a small introduction and needs refining to enable pure and clearer understanding of targets, empowered individuals and those committing the behaviour akin to cointelpro programs. The equation must be used with all I have stated in mind with the phenomenology coming from those aware of or suffering from symptoms of being a target which all stemmed from monarch programming PHENOMENA leads to PHENOMENOLOGY leads to PHENOMENOLOGY leads to PHENOMENA Each successive step reflects the times we are experiencing as of 18/04/2020 with targeting, covid-19, banking crash and many street theatre and staged events globally which are inducing mass fear and control of the mass mindset. It is this equation that opens up the smokescreen behind what the elites have planned with the best references being agenda 21 and what is planned for the future

This is a book on the history of the ensemble Ser Tão Teatro (PB) during its first five years (2007-2012). It contains several articles from well-known scholars, critics and journalists from different parts of country on the work of the group.  Each part is devoted to a play  - Vereda da Salvação, Farsa da Boa Preguiça and Flor de Macambira, and also to the annual theater festival organized by the group in the city of João Pessoa.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically arrange the fragmented literature available in a structured format to develop a conceptual resource pool of origin of street theatre in India. The researcher aims to study the evolution and development of street theatre in the Indian scenario. The paper deconstructs the available existing studies on street theatre in-depth since the inception of the Indian People"s TheatreAssociation(IPTA),Janya Natya Manch(JANAM)& other street theatre groups through a step by step analysis of the history of street theatre. The paper evaluates the emergence of street theatre and its paradigm change in a critical way.The originality of the study lies in analyzing the existing literature on street theatre and making it relevant for future researchers and to examine chronological developments of street theatre in following stages;

The project work is an attempt to study the forms of street plays, commonly known as "NUKKAD NATAKS", and its effects in spreading awareness for many social and individual issues. These plays are a great form of communication as these plays give social messages and entertainment both at the same time, these plays helps to spread awareness for issues such as Female Foeticide/ Infanticide, HIV AIDS, Family Planning, Corruption etc.

The last chapter of this anthology (Art and Aesthetics of Modern Mythopoeia Vol-One) is an interview on Hayavadana and Girish Karnad by Ashish Kumar Gupta. The conversation has been titled “Myths and Socio-Psychological Contemporaneity in Hayavadana: An Interview with Prof. Sonjoy Dutta Roy.” It delves deep into the structural and performative standard of the play Hayavadana and Girish Karnad’s cerebral supremacy in constructing such a play with a more cryptical sense and inscrutable messages employing the myths, puppets, dolls, and other significant symbolic images experimenting with folk and street theatre. Being an excellent and strenuous researcher of performative art and theatrical intelligence Prof. Roy answered every question with minute and abstruse details. Such sorts of answers are expected only from a person having enormous indulgence with theatrical performances and executions.

Nel bene e nel male, l’arte ha sempre ricadute politiche, ma il legame tra etica ed estetica è spesso scomodo. Nel tempo sono state elaborate strategie raffinatissime per neutralizzarne le potenzialità emancipatorie. L’analisi parte da lontano, dalla “Lotta per l’arte” svoltasi in Germania alla fine degli anni Venti e dalle azioni del GAAG Guerilla Art Action Group, portate avanti dal 1969 in poi, per approdare al presente che ha visto azioni di protesta prendere forma e propagarsi proprio perché costruite intorno a comunicazioni artistiche potenti, come la performance Un violador en tu camino che dal Cile ha fatto il giro del mondo.
For better or worse, art always has political repercussions, yet the link between ethics and aesthetics is often uncomfortable. Over time, highly refined strategies have been developed to neutralize its emancipatory potential. The analysis starts from afar, from the "Fight for art" which took place inGermany at the end of the 1920s and from the actions of the GAAG Guerilla Art Action Group, carried out from 1969 onwards, to arrive at the present that has seen protest actions take shape and spread precisely because they are built around powerful artistic communications, such as the performance Un violador en tu camino, which from Chile travelled around the world

The riddle is one of the least studied genres of oral literature and with this book I bring to your desk a recording of riddle act with active audiences. By focusing on the performer of the riddle, this study departs from earlier studies that presented riddles as short alphabetized lists of questions-and-answers.

Citizen Green is a political identity invested with radical takes on both citizenship and sustainable development, an alterity who may render non-Green citizenship recognisable. When the logics of Arendtian ‘power-with’ and Foucauldian governmentality are combined, the empowerment of Citizen Green must assume a dual meaning. Interpreted as creating a relational space of democratic politics for ‘the other’, empowerment is through participation in the public realm. If empowerment is viewed as emancipation, however, Green is always already subjected, and resistance could productively effect an ironic stance towards the world and the self (Szerszynski, 2007). In the quest for a sustainable society, this schizophrenic take on power may reveal genuinely uncommon ground (Chatterton, 2006).

Theories of environmental citizenship tend not to invest the identity with an activist imperative proportionate to ecological and political crises. Though this thesis does construct such an identity, it does not resolve how distant others in space, time and materiality can be empowered in the public realm of the here, now and human (see Bullen & Whitehead, 2005).

Herein, knowledge production is treated as an intersubjective process directed towards social change. A thirdspace research position is adopted and critical thirding employed as a conceptual technique (Soja, 1996). Thence, the construction of a radical green politics (Carter, 2004) is pursued through participatory action research reported as auto-ethnography.

Environmental sustainability and emancipation are not synonymous. A millenarian view of the environmental crisis demands a new theory of time and concerted action. A utopian view of freedom conjures immanence and diversity. Invigorating and extending the public realm should be an academic priority in parallel with investigating how the state mitigates such citizenship.

This thesis explores a pedagogical enquiry that has transformed the way I think and the way I teach. I used a variety of critical and theatre theories to frame my enquiry and for four years consecutively, visited a non-government organization (NGO) in India that uses theatre as an alternate pedagogical tool. I reflected upon the methodological differences between the theatre practices of the NGO and my practices. I then turned my enquiry inward to consider how my learning informed my teaching practices. I then created an alternate theatre project for some students in the American Midwest with Ashok, an artist from India. Ashok spent twelve days training the students in what I refer to as action theatre, while I coordinated, observed and reflected. This theatre is a form of social activism; it is designed to provide a forum for the students to express their socio-political views and raise individual and collective social awareness in the process. After the training period, the students presented a play using these theatre methods. They engaged in discussion with their audience directly after their play. After the training period, Ashok returned to India. He took on the role of mentor and informant to my ongoing enquiry. My enquiry then shifted from an introspective one to a practical one. Some of the students who wished to do so continued creating plays in this fashion. I took over the leadership of the group at their school. A new theatre troupe was created and I used the concepts learned at the NGO and from Ashok in an American suburban context. The theatre troupe created plays for three years. When I moved back to Canada, the troupe stopped its operations. Some students in the group continued activist work using art as a medium by finding other opportunities. I turned my enquiry inward once again to reflect upon how these processes have changed the way I think and the way I teach.

U ovom tekstu usredsrediću se na one aspekte alternativnog teatra – i, šire, izvođačkih umetnosti – u Beogradu i Srbiji tokom poslednje decenije dvadesetog veka koji se tiču, za njegovo razumevanje možda najvažnijeg, odnosa "etike i estetike". Alternativni teatar je kao vaninstitucionalna praksa bio direktnije eksponiran i aktivnije uključen u tada brojna i radikalna društvena zbivanja, nego instutucionalno pozorište koje je inertnije i po definiciji nastoji da zadrži status quo očuvanjem postojećih društvenih, kulturnih i umetničkih paradigmi. Na to je ukazivalo i nekoliko prominentnih lokalnih teoretičarki, kao što su Milena Dragićević-Šešić, Aleksandra Jovićević i Dubravka Knežević, koje su kritikovale institucionalna pozorišta u devedesetim zbog njihove "lagodne" pozicije i eskapizma.

In article the carnival activities consider as an aesthetic personal activity, not exempt from non-aesthetic moments, going beyond the «special activity of the artist сreator». The author introduces the concept of «clown in clownery», correlated in Bakhtin formula of «vnenakhodimost'», based on the love and participation of the author in relation to the hero. It is concluded that in the acting school there is only the first stage of the game (serious) systematized. The second carnival modeling system in which the transition to a new, deep level of philosophical understanding has the casual character at the school of education of actors and directors. The author refers to the results of his research aimed at expanding the ideas of students-directors and students-actors about the chosen profession by immersing in an active carnival-art environment. In real life, the aesthetic responsibility of the actor and the whole person for the appropriateness of the game remains, as the whole game is the responsible act of its player, not of the portrayed hero.

A History of Collective Creation examines collective and devised theatre practices in Europe and North America, beginning in 1900. Long associated with U.S., British and French theatre collectives of the 1960s, collective creation in fact has its roots in the theatrical experiments of the early 20th century, emerging just after the rise of the modern director.  Tracing a lineage from explorations of collective creation in the work of Meyerhold, Stanislavsky, Copeau, St. Denis, Piscator, Reduta, Grotowski, and early documentary theatre, through mid-century manifestations as a theatrical expression of the New Left, A History of Collective Creation proposes that collective creation played a pivotal role in the evolution of the modern theatre.

This issue of Shahadat (an online publication focusing on short-form creative writing in the Middle East and its diasporas) takes as its focus the popular literature of the Egyptian Revolution. Drawing on protest signs, graffiti, and street art in Tahrir to read the culture of resistance particular to the Egyptian Revolution, the curators examine how protesters changed the political narrative through the use of images, memorials, and expressions of daily life.  Featuring examples from an extensive gallery of online images culled from the collections of several prominent Egyptian journalists and activists, the online piece is a visual tour of some of the creative production of Egypt's Revolution.  A collaborative curation project split between New York City and Cairo, it is ArteEast's first critical look at the cultural production related to recent political developments in the Middle East.

Der Sammelband beruht auf der internationalen Tagung »Theatrale Revolten«, die im Herbst 2016 in Basel stattgefunden hat. Er vereint Beiträge zu Berührungspunkten zwischen Theater und politischer Revolte von Forscher/innen aus Literatur- und Theaterwissenschaft, Soziologie, Kunstgeschichte und Medienwissenschaft. Im Zentrum der Untersuchungen stehen Fragen nach Formen theatraler Aktion und Interaktion: Wie werden revolutionäre Ereignisse auf der Theaterbühne verhandelt? Welche Austauschdynamiken zwischen Theater und Stadtraum, Kunst und politischer Öffentlichkeit sind zu beobachten? In welchem Verhältnis steht das Theater zu politischer Macht und Selbstermächtigung? Der Band legt dabei einen Schwerpunkt auf die visuellen und auditive Inszenierung des theatralen Protests und seinen Status als öffentliches und mediales Ereignis. Die einzelnen Beiträge widmen sich einerseits Theater- und Protestformen des 18. Jahrhunderts, andererseits solchen der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts.

the devil isn’t so much an expression of precapitalist societies,
as is maintained, implicitly and explicitly, in a good part of folklore studies, but,rather,
an expression of resistance, resilience and adaptation vis-à-vis the imposition of a capitalist mode of production. It is in the liminal condition of proletarianization, that is,
in the brutal linkage of broad sectors of indigenous, African and mestizo peoples to
conditions of labour exploitation typical of the mode of production brought here by
Europeans that the devils emerge and are reproduced in society. The devil, thus,
becomes a mediator between processes of accumulation that are typical of modernity coloniality (Quijano 1992; Mignolo 1995: 39), and forms of ‘moral economy’
(Thompson 1979) that are alien to the logic of the Homo economicus and to governing techniques that are typical of liberalism and neoliberalism. ‘The fetishization of evil, in the image of the devil, is an image which mediates the conflict between precapitalist and capitalist mode of objectivizing the human conditions’ (Taussig 1980: xii). However, as a research group we are interested in focusing not so much on the
already widely studied sphere of the demonic in general but, rather, more specifically
on the devil as festive character. The emphasis on a reading of the phenomena
through the lens of performance studies, as well as through theories and practices of
the fiesta, allows us a fruitful approach to the debate. Taussig’s intuition—seeing in
the devil an expression of the process of proletarianization of campesino sectors displaced from their means of subsistence and thrown into the vertigo of the capitalist
machinery—remains inspiring, but our approach to the problem generates an
unprecedented heuristic potential for working at the crossroads of social liminality
and the ritual liminality of the fiesta itself.

Streets connect but also disrupt. Streets are traces of cities’ evolution and of civilizations. In the 21st century, with unprecedented urbanization and the need for planning resilient cities, the impact on streets is tremendous in relation to transport, communication, identities, safety, functions and socio-cultural roles. Queries arise, on whether anticipating or influencing change in the roles and characters of streets should be addressed within pre-determined conventional, professional, and institutional settings or within a broader framework.

Defining the need for reforming streets that disrupt to those that connect, this conference asks: to what extent should disciplines be engaged with street progress in terms of theory, practice and education in an era with new social networks, new political springs, new diseases, and new forms of art and culture? To what extent are streets urban arteries seeking to facilitate communication or is there a new complexity of streets, uncertainties, and questions to be addressed?

As various actors find ways to express what is going on in streets in terms of their design, use and role in cities, the discussion on streets goes beyond the domain of design and planning. Various aspects of deliberate manifestations of social needs and concerns are addressed within the broader scope of everyday life, politics, economy, technology, communication, to name few. With their ambitions and interests, these actors attempt to reform streets in a versatile global framework, using a wide range of tools based on their backgrounds (internet, writing, painting, filming, installing and so on).
Through an international and interdisciplinary exchange of scholarship, the conference provides a platform for the exchange of thoughts on adaptive approaches towards transformed city streets.

ВЕРИФИКАЦИЯ КОНЦЕПТОВ М.М. БАХТИНА В ЛАБОРАТОРНОЙ РАБОТЕ
С АКТЁРАМИ УЛИЧНОГО ТЕАТРА НА СЪЕЗДЕ «СМЕХОТВОРЕЦ»




Ю.А. Берладин., Е.А. Семёнова


Cтатья посвящена специализированным вопросам, связанным с особенностями формирования карнавальной культуры студентов-режиссёров, студентов-актёров,  а также молодых актёров и режиссёров драматического и уличного театра в условиях летних межсессионных занятий на удалённой от города стационарной площадке «Деревенский театр», расположенной в деревне «Крест» Тверской области. Авторы статьи анализирует собственный опыт создания карнавально-творческой образовательной среды в условиях лабораторной работы Всероссийского съезда «Смехотворец», считая продуктивными попытки реанимировать творческий потенциал личности актёра и режиссёра с помощью обращения к феномену русского ряженья, балагана, уличного театра.
Ключевые слова: карнавальная культура, образовательная среда, высшее образование, региональный туризм, студенты, «Деревенский театр», актёры, «Смехотворец».

The street releases an aura of hospitality unmatched by the great halls and the formal venues. This is so because the street belongs to the people—it is of itself the stage of hospitality. By “hospitable,” here, I mean, on the one hand, a site open and accessible to all, and even to roaming artists, and on the other, I mean something that befriends the strange, the unfamiliar, the unexpected; what you meet suddenly on the curve of a pedestrian walkway or at the edge of a square and at once you are distracted from daily existential cares and daily routines. While people were gathering without any clear objectives, besides demonstrating against the austerity measures of the economic crisis, the International Street Theatre Festival (Istfest) of Athens organized at that time, came to provide them with a significant “role”: their participation in a multi-faceted theatrical celebration, with
strong political connotations. In more ways than one, the street, (in the
broader sense of the public domain, of the open, collectively shared urban and planned city space, returned through the Festival to the people, the original owners, in the particular form of theatre: disguise, artistic expression, dramatic narration and performance.

2019 -Year of Theater in Russia
Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution «Institute of Art Education and Cultural Studies of the Russian Academy of Education» with Non-Profit Partnership «Theatre-Ex» invites You to take part in International Scientific and Practical Conference «STREET THEATER VS THE THEATER OF MILITARY OPERATIONS» dedicated to the celebration of the Theater Year in Russia and the understanding of the carnival-game potential of science, culture, art, education, political processes through the prism of M. M. Bakhtin's ideas.

Atul Sinha of Amar Ujala talks to S. Islam on the claim of some vocal practitioners of proscenium theatre that Street Theatre is not a theatre but slogan mongering. Here case for ST is presented. The problem with such critics is that they want to evaluate ST with the evaluation tools of proscenium theatre. In order to know the worth and genre of ST we have to develop new methods for its critical evaluation.

""Shamsul Islam, popularly known as Islambhai, is a renowned Street Theatre personality. He is one of the founders of Nishant Natya Manch a street theatre group, which was established way back in 1971. Nishant is known for its quick improvisations and innovations. By now they have performed over half a century street plays. Some of these plays have had over 3000 performances in various parts of the county.
Editor's note published in Health for Millions, Delhi, July-August 1995



Street Theatre: Changing the Unjust World

Shamsul Islam

Let me admit at the outset that for a very long period in seventies we relished the misconception that street theatre (ST) was basically a theatre which would take up issues which belong to the realm of politics only. This confession of mine, however, should not lead anyone to believe that I am trying to alter or shift the thrust of ST as a political movement. ST has always aimed at mobilizing the opinion of common people as a pre-requisite for change. ST is called, agit prop theatre for the very basic reason that it wants its audiences and viewers not to remain silent spectators or neutral to the unjust and repressive life around, but act in a manner that life is made humane and just. This calls for active participation in the struggle for correction, demanding a bit of sacrifice also. That is why ST is a political phenomenon.

The issue I am trying to underline relates to the content format of the ST. Should ST confine itself only to raising issues which concern political aspects like role of politicians, bureaucracy, police or exploitation—foreign as well as domestic? Though issues like gender bias or religious fundamentalism were taken up violating the Lakshman Rekha of the prevalent understanding of the content of ST movement, however, issues concerning environment, health, hygiene and many others like these were dismissed as of no concern. These later issues were looked down upon as something reformist in nature and of no concern to ST activists which were out on roads seeking to change the world.

It was no snobbery on the part of ST activists that they believed like this. It was their genuine belief that economic-political issues form the base and all other issues belonged to super-structure. We should strive to change the base and super-structure will automatically change accordingly. Moreover, ST performances were addressed mainly to the ruling classes and exposed their misdeeds and as a principle did not probe into the weaknesses of the masses. This was the dominant thinking in seventies when ST originated. ST was too nascent and yet to identify with general masses and issues concerning them. The ST activists could not have thought otherwise in the given political situation which prevailed at the end of sixties and the beginning of seventies. It was the failure of democratic-welfare state of India which gave birth to the ST movement. It was quite natural that the ST movement had to be exclusively confronting the same de-generation.

It is an undeniable fact that by mid-sixties the Indian polity had lost much of its legitimacy. The limited positive ideas, convictions and organizations we inherited were on the verge of collapse and had lost their relevance. The immense proportions attained by price rise, un-employment, black-marketing communalism, Casteism and oppression of women finally took its toll when monolithic rule of Congress Party was broken and it got split. In these circumstances when established political institutions and even press became silent spectators and ditched the Indian people and betrayed their aspirations, ST came as a genre espousing the cause of the Indian people and to uphold their honour. This was how ST took up the issues of political corruption, mismanagement, repression and dictatorial tendencies among the rulers, initially.

However, the scenario changed gradually. The ST activists realized very soon that the political issues were not the only ones which had to be taken up for building a just Indian society; but also some of the issues which were treated as on the periphery or as fringe issues. It was through their practical experiences that the ST teams were to realize soon that at the micro level the unjust system remained entrenched. More so because within society there were other issues of crisis than just political, and society could not re-generate unless those issues were also dissected.

Members of Nishant will always remain grateful to the simple but full of warmth, tribal friends of Hazaribagh (Bihar) for making us realize that ST performances have to go beyond political issues if ST is committed to reflect the sorrows and aspirations of common people of India. Our face to face interaction with tribals at Hazaribagh made us realize that new grounds have to be searched and traversed.

I would like to narrate the actual incident which took place in early eighties (1980s). It all began in the tribal belt of Barhi Tehsil of Hazaribagh district. We had highly successful performances which continued beyond midnight, of our political plays for three days in a row. On the fourth day when we were relatively in a bigger village and had finished the performances, a group of tribal women stood up and said that our plays caricaturing and lampooning the politicians, bureaucrats, Sahookars (money-lenders) and Policewallas were great and they had enjoyed the same. However, they were frank enough to tell us that our plays did not take up the issues which were far more serious for them in and around their village. They explained that their drunkard husbands and the absence of any medical facility were two things about which they were worried most. They asked point blank,” do you have plays on these?” We had none. We had always believed that it was none of our tasks. It was sheer reformism. But ground reality in that tribal village convinced us that we were out of touch with reality. It was a total exposure of poverty of philosophy of our kind of ST. We accepted our shortcomings and promised to present next day, two plays on their most burning issues.

We honestly realized our fault and took up the challenge. The entire next day was spent rehearsing on the two themes. On drunkard husbands we based our play on a story of well known Oriya writer, who is also known as Premchand of Oriya literature, Fakir Mohan Senapati. The story titled as ‘Patent Medicine’ is full of action and ends with thrashing of drunkard husband with broom by wife thus underlying broom as patent medicine for the drunkard husbands. The play became so popular on the tour that we had to perform it more than once at every place. It became a play with which the tribals identified most. Later on we changed the name of the play to 'Ramban' on the suggestion of a trible woman when we were performing in Udaipur district of Rajasthan. On the issue of lack of health services, we were lucky to have a copy of the book ‘Where There is No Doctor’ with us (this book has always been part of properties of any touring team of Nishant). We took up few aspects from this book and improvised them into scenes. This innovation also became very popular.

Since then Nishant made it a point to have plays on health issues in its repertoire. We developed more plays on personal hygiene, cleanliness, avoiding of over medication, complete treatment for TB and exposing multinational drug companies. In fact, these so called apolitical plays helped us greatly in getting closer and familiar to our audiences. We soon realized that such plays helped us in gaining confidence of the down-trodden and later when we performed political plays the audiences were more receptive. Of course, we did not confine our health plays to the issue of physical health only but roped in the issues of mental health and even social health. We took care that our plays on health should never look like DAVP or Song and Drama Division propaganda. We related all these health issues to the social system which was based on exploitation of men by men. We underline the fact that health issues were essentially related to the nature of society we were living in. Better health would require a just and humane society also. For us, raising of health issues in the ST performances became part of our cultural struggle to change this unjust world.

Of course, the credit for opening this new horizon to us goes to simple tribal women of Hazaribagh. We shall never be able to repay their debt.

[This article also carried two photographs of Nishant’s performances at Laxmi Bai College (University of Delhi) and in Tehri, Garhwal which are not reproduced here.]""

This article is concerned with experimental forms of educational tourism developed for the faculties of directing and dramatic arts at universities of art education and cultural studies, as well as at higher institutes of theater arts. The author refers to the results of her long-term research project entitled "Rural Theater" aimed at expanding the ideas of future movie directors and actors about the chosen profession through their immersion into an active carnival-artistic environment during summer intersession classes. The author describes the work of stationary "Rural Theater" located in the Russian village of Krest, the Rechansky rural settlement, Toropetsky District, Tver Region. Throughout the analysis, the author has concluded that students immersing into carnival educational environment activate the archaic creative potential (rural or agricultural) unused by modern urban culture and associated with humor and peacefulness. The author compares the effectiveness of two proprietary techniques – "Street theater as a space forming a person's carnival culture" and "Humor against irony". The first technique was tested in the Russian village, while the second one based on the combat between irony and humor and used in the subculture of rap battles was implemented in the work with students in a more hostile, urban environment. Both techniques aim to enhance the carnival and artistic potential of students attending institutions of art education and culture studies. This article presents photographs from the author's personal archive taken during the field research. The methods developed in the article are based on the works by A.G. Kozintsev on humor and irony; V.Yu. Mikhailin on the specific agricultural consciousness based on accumulated traditions

TRAVAILS OF THEATRE is based on a talk with Madeeha Gauhar, leading Pakistani theatre personality. She describes how dangerous it has been to perform during militarycum theocratic rule and the cost performers have to pay. She and her husband, Shahid Nadeem faced persecution but they never submitted to the dictatorship. She also talks of easing restrictions on performances between India and Pakistan.

""मंगलवार, 09 मार्च, 2004



मेरे पहले शिक्षकः शम्सुल इस्लाम


मनोज बाजपेयी
हिंदी फ़िल्म अभिनेता



मनोज वाजपेयी
राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय में दाख़िले की तीन कोशिशें..तीनों बार नाक़ामी मिली
मैं एकलव्य नहीं हूँ, लेकिन ये भी सच है कि किसी द्रोणाचार्य की नज़र मुझ पर नहीं पड़ी. मेरी आंतरिक इच्छा थी कि राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय (एनएसडी) में मुझे दाख़िला मिल जाए, मगर अपनी तीन-तीन कोशिशों में मैं विफल रहा.

इन विफलताओं ने मुझे निराश किया, लेकिन साथ ही आत्मपरीक्षण का मौक़ा भी दिया. मैंने समांतर विकल्प की खोज की. एनएसडी के पाठ्यक्रम को ध्यान में रखते हुए मैंने अभ्यास जारी रखा. मुझे कई ठिकानों की खोज करनी पड़ी. अब लगता है कि उस संघर्ष से फ़ायदा ही हुआ. मैं अधिक मंझा. मेरे व्यक्तित्व का खुरदुरापन ख़त्म हुआ.

मुझे याद है...नाटक करने की इच्छा दोस्तों से ज़ाहिर की तो किसी ने शम्सुल इस्लाम का नाम सुझाया. उसी व्यक्ति ने ये भी बताया कि वह वामपंथी विचारों के हैं और स्ट्रीट थिएटर करते हैं. सच कहूँ तो तब तक मैं राजनीतिक विचारों के भेद से परिचित नहीं था.

शम्सुल इस्लाम से मुलाक़ात हुई. उन्होंने बग़ैर किसी परीक्षा या 'ऑडिशन' के मुझे अपने ग्रुप में शामिल कर लिया. मैं उनके ऑफ़िस आने-जाने लगा और उनकी गतिविधियों में हिस्सा लेने लगा.

पहले गुरू की शिक्षा


शम्सुल इस्लाम मेरे पहले गुरू हैं. उन्होंने समझाया कि किसी भी अभिनेता के लिए यह ज़रूरी है कि वह अपने समय की सामाजिक, आर्थिक और राजनीतिक परिस्थितियों को समझे.


मैं कह सकता हूँ कि शम्सुल इस्लाम मेरे पहले गुरू हैं. उन्होंने समझाया कि किसी भी अभिनेता के लिए यह ज़रूरी है कि वह अपने समय की सामाजिक, आर्थिक और राजनीतिक परिस्थितियों को समझे. इस समझ के बाद ही वह समाज को ठीक से समझ पाएगा. सामाजिक समझ विकसित होने पर ही वह ज़िंदगी के किरदारों के क़रीब पहुँच सकेगा. उन्हें ख़ुद में उतार पाएगा.

इस तरह मेरी शुरूआत एक ऐसे छात्र के रूप में हुई जो अभिनय की बारीकियों के साथ ही समाज को भी रेशा-रेशा समझ सके. मेरे लिए यह बहुत बड़ा सबक़ था. मैं बिहार के एक पारंपरिक ब्राह्मण परिवार से आया था. सदियों की सामाजिक रूढ़ियाँ मेरे संस्कार में थीं.

जात-पात, ज़मींदारी और कुलीनता की शिक्षा मुझे मिली थी. मुझे बताया गया था कि राम के समय में भी धोबी थे, इसलिए आज भी कोई-न-कोई धोबी होना चाहिए. ऊँची और नीची जातियों का होना अस्वाभाविक नहीं है.


शम्सुल ने देश-विदेश के प्रगतिशील साहित्य से भी मेरा परिचय कराया. मुझे हर तरह की किताबें पढ़ने को मिलीं. मैं रूसी, चीनी और अन्य विदेशी भाषाओं के साहित्य से परिचित हुआ.

शम्सुल की संगत ने मेरे दिमाग़ को बदला. मेरी सोच बदली. मेरे अंतर्विरोध एक-एक कर टूटे और ख़त्म हुए. मैं अपने समय के सामाजिक जकड़न से बाहर आया. शम्सुल ने देश-विदेश के प्रगतिशील साहित्य से भी मेरा परिचय कराया. मुझे हर तरह की किताबें पढ़ने को मिलीं. मैं रूसी, चीनी और अन्य विदेशी भाषाओं के साहित्य से परिचित हुआ.

मेरा नज़रिया बदला. कायाकल्प के इस दौर में ही एक नई विश्वदृष्टि हासिल हुई. सामाजिक विकृतियों के ख़िलाफ़ नाटक करना, आर्थिक असमानताओं के ख़िलाफ़ बातें करना और देश की स्थिति पर राजनीतिक विमर्श करना...यही दिनचर्या बन गई थी.

कॉलेज की नियमित पढ़ाई के लिए बहुत कम वक़्त मिल पाता था, लेकिन मैं संतुष्ट था. मेरा दायरा बढ़ रहा था. मैं विस्तृत हो रहा था.

भाषा पर मेहनत

इसी दौर में राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय में दाख़िला लेने की पहली कोशिश में विफल होने पर मैंने महसूस किया कि मेरी हिंदी अच्छी नहीं है. बोलने के लहजे, शब्दों के चुनाव और उच्चारण में अपने इलाक़े का भारी प्रभाव है. किसी अभिनेता के लिए आवश्यक है कि वह सबसे पहले भाषा के इस दोष से मुक्त हो.मैंने हिंदी का अभ्यास आरंभ किया.


एक विषय के तौर पर मैंने अंग्रेज़ी की पढ़ाई अवश्य की थी, मगर दिल्ली में अंग्रेज़ी समझने, पढ़ने और बोलने में दिक़्क़त होती थी. यह एहसास हो गया था कि अगर बड़े शहर में आगे बढ़ना है तो अंग्रेज़ी से अलग नहीं रह सकता.


मुझे अंग्रेज़ी बिल्कुल नहीं आती थी. एक विषय के तौर पर मैंने अंग्रेज़ी की पढ़ाई अवश्य की थी, मगर दिल्ली में अंग्रेज़ी समझने, पढ़ने और बोलने में दिक़्क़त होती थी. यह एहसास हो गया था कि अगर बड़े शहर में आगे बढ़ना है तो अंग्रेज़ी से अलग नहीं रह सकता. अंग्रेज़ी सीखनी होगी.

अपनी भाषा दुरूस्त करने के क्रम में मैंने समझा कि बिहार से आए अभिनेता अपनी इस कमी को बच्चों की ज़िद की तरह पाल लेते हैं. अपने अहंकार में भाषा के भदेसपन को गुण समझ बैठते हैं.

दिल्ली के आरंभिक वर्ष शम्सुल इस्लाम के साथ स्ट्रीट थिएटर करने के अलावा रामजस कॉलेज और हिंदू कॉलेज के नाटक करने में गुज़रे. ललित पारिमू और देशदीपक मुझे बुलाते थे.

हिंदू कॉलेज का एक नाटक होना था. उसका रिहर्सल चल रहा था. एक दिन मैं मलेरिया से तप रहा था, फिर भी अपना झोला लेकर मैं वहाँ पहुँच गया. सभी ने कहा कि मुझे नहीं आना चाहिए था. वहाँ से निकलते समय मैं कब कमज़ोरी से बेहोश होकर गिर पड़ा और कैसे मुझे देश दीपक लेकर होस्टल तक आए, ये सब किस्सा बताया गया था.

जुनून और मौक़ा

मुझे लगता है कि हिंदी प्रदेशों में प्रतिभा की कमी नहीं है.प्रतिभाओं को मुरझाने से बचाने के लिए हमें जल्दी-से-जल्दी इस संदर्भ में कुछ करना चाहिए. देश के एकलव्यों को अर्जुन बनने का मौक़ा देना चाहिए.


दरअसल मैं कुछ साबित करने के इरादे से बुख़ार में रिहर्सल करने नहीं गया था. मुझे हर वह पल अच्छा लगता था, जो मैं रंगमंच में गुज़ारता था. मैं पिछड़े इलाक़े से आया था. मुझे बहुत कुछ सीखना था. नाटक करने के उस जुनून ने ही मुझे वहाँ पहुँचा दिया था.

वैसा जुनून कई लोगों में होता है, मगर कभी राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय में दाख़िला नहीं मिलने से तो कभी शम्सुल इस्लाम के संपर्क में नहीं आने से बहुत सारे लोग गुमनामी के अंधेरे में भटक जाते हैं.

मुझे लगता है कि हिंदी प्रदेशों में प्रतिभा की कमी नहीं है. कमी है ऐसे संपर्कों और संसाधनों की...जो सही समय पर उन्हें दिशा दें, अवसर दें और खिलने का मौक़ा दें. प्रतिभाओं को मुरझाने से बचाने के लिए हमें जल्दी-से-जल्दी इस संदर्भ में कुछ करना चाहिए. देश के एकलव्यों को अर्जुन बनने का मौक़ा देना चाहिए.""

It is a write-up by renowned author and poetess, Nirupama Dutt on the cultural work Neelima Sharma & Shamsul Islam, as life partners, are doing together to challenge the de-humanized culture, politics and economics specially through street theatre.
It appeared in The Tribune, Chandigarh dated June 26, 2005

Organiser ces journées du CARC (Corps Arts Rue Culture) tient de la volonté d’interroger, aujourd’hui, les arts de la rue, au sens le plus large du terme, en regard du rapport entre corps et rue. En mobilisant des interlocuteurs issus de divers champs scientifiques, artistiques et culturels, associatifs ou politiques, notre ambition est de comprendre comment arts et rue son perçus socialement, tant dans leurs aspects positifs que négatifs. L’originalité du propos tient au fait que les regards seront croisés sur ces questions.
On interrogera les représentations actuelles du corps dans la rue, lieu de phantasmes, de craintes, de plaisirs, de vie, de passages ou de rencontres, à travers plusieurs pratiques telles que la boxe et la rue, l’immersion en milieu urbain et les façons de travailler dans la rue à travers la question de la reconnaissance des artistes de rue.

Sagar Sarhadi born as Ganga Sagar Talwar in the Frontier Province of pre-Partition India who expired on 22-23 March, 2021 was a great film director, producer, playwright, script writer, street theatre practitioner and above all a political activist and a fine human being. Throughout his life he remained  a committed to Marxism.
LINK: https://www.hastakshep.com/sagar-sarhadi/