Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 17: Forum Theatre workshop culminated here today at Natrang Studio Theatre with the presentation of three short plays entitled ‘Kab Tak’ by Natrang actors who have been a part of this International workshop which was conducted by Devika Ranjan of Washington DC, USA.
Over a ten-day workshop, the actors identified problems within the society and created short plays about the issues. Forum theatre is a type of theatre created by the innovative and influential practitioner Augusto Boal as part of what he calls his ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’. Boal created Forum theatre as a forum for teaching people how to change their world.
In Forum theatre, the actors present a short play or scene called the anti-model—a scene in which the protagonist does not achieve their goal. A request is then made to the audience to change the outcome so that the protagonist wins. An audience member simply says “STOP!” when they wish to change the action, then join the actors on stage to assume the role of the protagonist. The play then continues with the audience member attempting to change the outcome by making new choices.
The first short play was “Har Ghar Ki Kahani,” in which the actors performed about family pressure within Jammu society. In the play, the son was pressured to follow his father’s medical career when he truly wanted to become a doctor. In the second play, “Andhi Soch,” the actors portrayed the story of a sick child taken to a Babaji instead of the hospital. “Laadli Beti,” tells the story of a woman who is forced into marriage by her father and brother. She reveals that she wants to become an IAS officer and is shut in her room until her marriage. The third presentation ‘Laadli Beti’ was put to the experimentation of Forum theatre. The audience was requested to participate in the presentation so the protagonist in this play wins.
The Natrang actors who participated this ten day workshop included Renu Sharma, Goutam Sharma, Gauri Thakur, Sonalika Jamwal, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Rahul Gupta, Bhisham Gupta, Shaan Khan, Anchit Bakshi, Shray Bakshi, Akshit Koul and Nikhil Dubey. The presentations were done by Mahikshit Singh and the show was coordinated by Mohd. Yaseen.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
