Brave narratives take stage on streets

According to A Mangai, a theatre artiste and activist who has been doing street theatre since 1986, the origin of street theatre was political awareness. “The purpose of street theatre is to address those who aren’t your regular theatre-goers. The art mobilises people or ideas for something,” she said.

Having written plays on female infanticide and transgender community, she explained that the art form instigates debate and discussion. These plays also discuss themes of religion, class and caste.

“Street theatre has been popular since we became a democracy. This is because the themes of dissent, protest and opinions are important in our democracy. They want to convey these to the ruling authority, and art is a way they can do it. Audiences too, are democratic, as they come from all backgrounds,” said the founder of Chennai Kalai Kuzhu and a theatre artiste Pralayan.

The art form was particularly popular in the late 80s and early 90s, but Pralayan said that its popularity cannot be quantified as their audiences are impromptu and random. Mangai added that the institutionalised inclusion of the art form in educational institutions has led to more takers.

The street itself is an equalising stage for these artistes, as it makes the art form more tangible and accessible for the audiences. Music and dance, according to Mangai, are paramount in street theatre. “They are important in retaining an audience. Dance and body movements help convey pages of dialogues easily, and music is important as it stays with the audience long after they leave the space,” she said. As an art form for the oppressed, as Mangai puts it, it also employs instruments like thappu, a drum primarily used by the Dalit community.

The themes of street theatre have always been contemporary, said Pralayan, citing a play they had been staging for over two decades titled Idam, which spoke on food habits by various communities in India, and was staged before the beef ban. “There is no such thing as catering to contemporary audiences as our themes have always been, and will always be, contemporary. This is why a 20-year-old play is received well by an urban crowd like the students from IIT,” he said.

However, recent plays are shifting away from political debate and discussion and moving towards corporate promotion, he said. “Many people put up plays for certain corporations and companies as a promotional event for them. Some even work with NGOs or the government to host plays. They no longer tap into the politics,” he said.

Mangai feels that the current trend of holding people in power accountable must shift towards creating unity. “We need to stage more plays which bring the community together and help people feel compassionate towards others. The mood and tone need to be different. We still must stridently demand justice, but we need to build to the base to demand justice because we cannot assume that the community is present anymore,” she said.