The people's theatre, a festival organised by the Chennai based theatre group, Chennai Kalai Kuzhu (CKK), celebrating its 12th anniversary, opened with a play called Maanagarm. Maanagarm weaves the poignant tale of people living in slums and is a mixture of humor and satire. The festival invited 18 theatre groups from across the country.
Folk drummers from different parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh added colour and vibrance to the first day's performances. Street theatres were held in the open air with people squatting on the ground, while some plays were mounted on the proscenium stage.
Bangalore's Samudaya group presented Sankranthi, directed by P Lankesh. It's a delightful satire on the attempt to uplift downtrodden people through conversion and change of habits. The CKK performed a stirring play called Uram against the use of harmful pesticides. Mounakkural, another group from Tamil Nadu, staged Maunakkuram and Calcutta's Prathikrithi presented Darpane Saharatshashi.
The week-long festival was interspersed with group discussions and seminars. The 18 groups came together for a stimulating and satisfying week that provided a wholesome exchange of varied theater experiences.
According to Pralayan, the convenor of the CKK, the theatre movement in India is in a state of flux. Propelled into a fragmenting media society, the cause of serious theatre is also in the process of transformation. The resilient young alternative theatre movement in the country, he said, has best reflected this situation. New idioms and forms have been replacing conventional theatre. The challenge of the time is the opportunity for change.
"It was to take stock of the status of alternative theatre in the country that the concept of the national level people's theatre festival took shape," said Pralayan. "The festival is to provide a forum for a closer look at how contemporary Indian theatre has coped with challenges and what leading groups in different languages are engaged in."
The festival opened in the open air theatre named Safdar Hashmi Arangam, in memory of Hashmi who was brutally murdered while staging open air theatre. His wife has carried on his movement and was a leading participant in the festival.
The inauguration also saw the participation of M.F. Husain. Groups speaking different languages intermingled freely. Language didn't seem to be a barrier.
The mission of each group seemed to be message dissemination, intended to arouse feelings towards the socio-political situation in the country. The unmitigated response of different groups seemed to be the structure within which the alternative theatre movement in India was based.
"Alternative theatre is not just street theatre," said Pralayan. "All the genres of serious theatre come under the title of alternative theatre. Today our lives are dominated by the electronic media which has fragmented our consciousness and our collective memory. There is myth that traditional forms cannot express contemporary reality or contemporary sensitivity. All these myths have now been wonderfully broken".
The participants believed that no judgment should be based on theories without practice and objective reality. Strengthening of district-level groups and healthy interaction among theatre groups are a way of developing theatre today. Small, it was felt, was not only beautiful but also powerful.