Street theatre a medium of language

Street theater

The concept behind the project is that art cannot exist outside the context of society and hence has a responsibility towards society. So they choose the path of theatre of relevance and committed themselves to art for the sake of social responsibility and transformation, thus extending the exiting principles and ideologies of art. Theatre of relevance is also very much in keeping with traditional art forms like – ‘Katha’, ‘Kirtan’, ‘Loknatya’, that reached out to the people with a sense of purpose and devotion, besides entertaining them and touching upon issues of social significance.

Approach to street theatre has been to eliminate preaching and concentrating on performance. At the same time, the goal of creating awareness about issues of contemporary social relevance has never been abandoned. Project ‘Jagruti” (project of street plays) have always attempted to have as much realism and depth as the lives of the people whose problems are being highlighted so that they can reach the widest possible audiences and give them an insight into the problems of the poor, the underprivileged and oppressed.

The audience of the street theatre is the common citizen---- passers-by, commuters, middleclass workers, slum dwellers, beggars, villagers, city-folk, but industrialists, the ruling class and elite are not excluded.

The street theatre has its inherent challenges—to portray various problems accurately, an in-depth study is required to lend the play a certain gravity and intensity. At the same time there should be no sermonizing.

Street theatre is not the only medium of an entertainment but a means of creating social awareness. It is not a take-off on film scenes and songs but needs much effort on the part of the scriptwriter as any regular stage play. The out look of the play write should be fearless, impartial and enlightened. The actors and directors should be equally sensitive, aware and disciplined and have ability to draw out responses from the audience. All this needs training and practice. For street theatre to be meaningful, it should never be haphazardly written or performed.