<div>Participants enact original scenes and stories of oppression<br /><br />William Shakespeare found the world to be a stage and on the stage, his world. Augusto Boal was no English bard but that did not stop him from following the same philosophy, juxtaposing the real world and the stage. The legendary theatre activist from Brazil, who started a global socio-cultural and political movement through his Theatre of the Oppressed, provided a voice to the have-nots.<br /><br />Drawing inspiration from Boal, Sanjay Ganguly of Jana Sanskriti, the other acclaimed exponent of Theatre of the Oppressed, has come up with a first-of-its-kind international research institute on the outskirts of Kolkata. Since the Brazilian legend's death in 2009, Ganguly has emerged the most important theatre personality around the world pursuing this form of theatre and Kolkata has become its new capital.<br /><br />If under Boal, his hometown Rio de Janeiro was the centre of the world, under Ganguly’s wings the torch will be carried forward, adding to the Brazilian giant’s legacy. Boal had often referred to Jana Sanskriti as the other iconic company outside Brazil. Ganguly’s initiative in setting up the Jana Sanskriti International Research and Resource Institute has elicited significant interest among those who follow and practise the form of theatre. Today, Jana Sanskriti’s institute is being seen as one of the most important point of references to the theatre’s global community.<br /><br />He explained that Jana Sanskriti’s goal is to “create a space in which the oppressed will have enormous scope for introspection and discovery of the self” to facilitate a meeting between the individual and perfection within himself. Jana Sanskriti’s Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed was born in Kolkata as an experiment 30 years ago, with a dedicated group which saw the form as an effective means of social change, after coming in contact with Boal.<br /><br />Presently, Jana Sanskriti has 30 satellite theatre teams across India, of which 10 are run and managed only by women and they come from the marginal population. Having come a long way since 1985, Jana Sanskriti reaches around one lakh viewers annually through its performances, working closely with theatre groups from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.<br /><br />The plays revolve around subjects ranging from domestic violence and political violence to resistance against aggressive forms of development. With large participation of women, domestic violence is a repeated theme in most of their plays. If Sonar Meye (the golden girl) deals with the story of a girl’s life, before and after marriage, Sarbashiksha (education for all) explores the age-old education policies of the state. Drishtikon (view point), a political play on the closure of jute mills in Bengal, analyses existing corruption within the trade unions.<br /><br />“The oppressed section of society should not feel that it is dumb or born to serve the elite. We try to change the way people think through our plays,” said Ganguly. Pointing out that Jana Sanskriti had started by working in low-income areas near the Sunderbans in the south Bengal, the group’s founder said that in the last 30 years Jana Sanskriti has touched the lives of thousands of people, mostly from among the urban and rural poor, be it local tribes, victims of domestic abuse, domestic helps and factory workers.<br /><br />Ganguly explained that Theatre of the Oppressed is a lesser explored form of theatre in India where people from marginalised populace act in plays, which mostly deal with issues and discontent of development. “It’s a form in which participants enact original scenes and stories of oppression. The idea is to beam the developmental issues through a stage act with the help of those who are already dealing with the issues in real life,” he said.<br /><br />Echoing Boal’s life philosophy, Ganguly believes that perfection, latent in individuals, is waiting to be discovered and manifested. “When a person discovers this perfection he’s able to overcome the sense of inferiority imposed upon him by the centralised social culture. He becomes articulate, confident and capable of confronting challenges, which come in the path of development,” noted Ganguly, the artistic director of Jana Sanskriti.<br /><br />“Our goal is to create a space where the oppressed will have enormous scope for introspection and discovery of the self and to facilitate a meeting between the individual and the perfection within himself,” Ganguly said. Much like Boal, Ganguly is also an engineering graduate but spent a considerable period as a political activist in Kolkata’s suburbs. While he worked for some time among marginalised agricultural workers in the south Bengal, his life underwent a change after meeting Boal in 1991.<br /><br />The meeting with Boal in Paris exposed Ganguly to a new world. As he worked closely with the Brazilian theatre legend for several years, he came in touch with a number of theatre groups, activists and researchers in the Western Europe and the US. “We script the play instead of playing the script. It’s a more democratic form of theatre, a space to develop critical understanding between actors and spectators,” Ganguly said. One such friend is Birgit Fritz, a researcher at the University of Vienna in Austria.<br /><br />Fritz has been associated with Jana Sanskriti for around a decade and helped translate Ganguly’s book on theatre and democracy in India to German. Another close friend is Professor Ralph Yarrow from the University of East Anglia in the UK. Talking about the group’s art form, Yarrow, an associate of 15 years, said: “It recognises the intelligence and agency of everyone to identify, speak out and analyse the problems they face, as participants are not just spectators in this theatre process. So they rehearse their ability to take responsibility for their own lives and develop the ability to change their world.”<br /><br />“By establishing the Institute, we have no intention to constitute a network or replace existing networks. Rather, its role is to provide an opportunity to bring together all kinds of change-makers, in the process strengthening the international profile of the theatre form,” Ganguly said. <br /><br />He hopes it will also help establish a space for ongoing debate and critical interaction, keeping in mind the theatre’s role in a world of global capitalism. “The intention is that the facility will function as a site for exchange and interchange, a locus for dialogue on both theory and performance of Theatre of the Oppressed in today’s world,” he stated.<br /><br /></div>
<div>Participants enact original scenes and stories of oppression<br /><br />William Shakespeare found the world to be a stage and on the stage, his world. Augusto Boal was no English bard but that did not stop him from following the same philosophy, juxtaposing the real world and the stage. The legendary theatre activist from Brazil, who started a global socio-cultural and political movement through his Theatre of the Oppressed, provided a voice to the have-nots.<br /><br />Drawing inspiration from Boal, Sanjay Ganguly of Jana Sanskriti, the other acclaimed exponent of Theatre of the Oppressed, has come up with a first-of-its-kind international research institute on the outskirts of Kolkata. Since the Brazilian legend's death in 2009, Ganguly has emerged the most important theatre personality around the world pursuing this form of theatre and Kolkata has become its new capital.<br /><br />If under Boal, his hometown Rio de Janeiro was the centre of the world, under Ganguly’s wings the torch will be carried forward, adding to the Brazilian giant’s legacy. Boal had often referred to Jana Sanskriti as the other iconic company outside Brazil. Ganguly’s initiative in setting up the Jana Sanskriti International Research and Resource Institute has elicited significant interest among those who follow and practise the form of theatre. Today, Jana Sanskriti’s institute is being seen as one of the most important point of references to the theatre’s global community.<br /><br />He explained that Jana Sanskriti’s goal is to “create a space in which the oppressed will have enormous scope for introspection and discovery of the self” to facilitate a meeting between the individual and perfection within himself. Jana Sanskriti’s Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed was born in Kolkata as an experiment 30 years ago, with a dedicated group which saw the form as an effective means of social change, after coming in contact with Boal.<br /><br />Presently, Jana Sanskriti has 30 satellite theatre teams across India, of which 10 are run and managed only by women and they come from the marginal population. Having come a long way since 1985, Jana Sanskriti reaches around one lakh viewers annually through its performances, working closely with theatre groups from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.<br /><br />The plays revolve around subjects ranging from domestic violence and political violence to resistance against aggressive forms of development. With large participation of women, domestic violence is a repeated theme in most of their plays. If Sonar Meye (the golden girl) deals with the story of a girl’s life, before and after marriage, Sarbashiksha (education for all) explores the age-old education policies of the state. Drishtikon (view point), a political play on the closure of jute mills in Bengal, analyses existing corruption within the trade unions.<br /><br />“The oppressed section of society should not feel that it is dumb or born to serve the elite. We try to change the way people think through our plays,” said Ganguly. Pointing out that Jana Sanskriti had started by working in low-income areas near the Sunderbans in the south Bengal, the group’s founder said that in the last 30 years Jana Sanskriti has touched the lives of thousands of people, mostly from among the urban and rural poor, be it local tribes, victims of domestic abuse, domestic helps and factory workers.<br /><br />Ganguly explained that Theatre of the Oppressed is a lesser explored form of theatre in India where people from marginalised populace act in plays, which mostly deal with issues and discontent of development. “It’s a form in which participants enact original scenes and stories of oppression. The idea is to beam the developmental issues through a stage act with the help of those who are already dealing with the issues in real life,” he said.<br /><br />Echoing Boal’s life philosophy, Ganguly believes that perfection, latent in individuals, is waiting to be discovered and manifested. “When a person discovers this perfection he’s able to overcome the sense of inferiority imposed upon him by the centralised social culture. He becomes articulate, confident and capable of confronting challenges, which come in the path of development,” noted Ganguly, the artistic director of Jana Sanskriti.<br /><br />“Our goal is to create a space where the oppressed will have enormous scope for introspection and discovery of the self and to facilitate a meeting between the individual and the perfection within himself,” Ganguly said. Much like Boal, Ganguly is also an engineering graduate but spent a considerable period as a political activist in Kolkata’s suburbs. While he worked for some time among marginalised agricultural workers in the south Bengal, his life underwent a change after meeting Boal in 1991.<br /><br />The meeting with Boal in Paris exposed Ganguly to a new world. As he worked closely with the Brazilian theatre legend for several years, he came in touch with a number of theatre groups, activists and researchers in the Western Europe and the US. “We script the play instead of playing the script. It’s a more democratic form of theatre, a space to develop critical understanding between actors and spectators,” Ganguly said. One such friend is Birgit Fritz, a researcher at the University of Vienna in Austria.<br /><br />Fritz has been associated with Jana Sanskriti for around a decade and helped translate Ganguly’s book on theatre and democracy in India to German. Another close friend is Professor Ralph Yarrow from the University of East Anglia in the UK. Talking about the group’s art form, Yarrow, an associate of 15 years, said: “It recognises the intelligence and agency of everyone to identify, speak out and analyse the problems they face, as participants are not just spectators in this theatre process. So they rehearse their ability to take responsibility for their own lives and develop the ability to change their world.”<br /><br />“By establishing the Institute, we have no intention to constitute a network or replace existing networks. Rather, its role is to provide an opportunity to bring together all kinds of change-makers, in the process strengthening the international profile of the theatre form,” Ganguly said. <br /><br />He hopes it will also help establish a space for ongoing debate and critical interaction, keeping in mind the theatre’s role in a world of global capitalism. “The intention is that the facility will function as a site for exchange and interchange, a locus for dialogue on both theory and performance of Theatre of the Oppressed in today’s world,” he stated.<br /><br /></div>
