Showing the other side of India’s economic successes
“If you carefully read the newspapers you realize that among all the articles which speak of the many Indians that grow richer every day or of how many Indian companies buy foreign firms, there are plenty of small, hidden stories about the victims who, for most people, don’t exist: stories of death by starvation, suicides, kidnapped women, etc.”,comments Mallika Sarabbhai. These are stories like that of Aand, a child of the Indian streets, from Jagtu Gond where land was forcibly seized, of Narayani Amma, scavenger of garbage and human waste, of Mallika Bi, who suffered from discrimination because she was Muslim and from Jatín, of a leper who struggles to send his children to an ordinary school.
The goal of the play is to touch the audience and make them reflect in order to incite them to action in their daily lives or as volunteers for the Unsuni troop. It is written in a simple fashion and contains easily identifiable characters, in order to be accessible to all. The characters have typical needs and wants, but represent the people marginalized from society. They impress by way of their determination and will to improve their situation by opposition to social discriminations. The play rallies the audience, by allowing them to identify with the characters.
Listen to the voices which are not heard in India
Based on the book The Unheard Voices by Harsh Mandar, the play is divided into five acts, each dealing with a particular issue. Following a rhythm which alternates dialogue, voice-overs and a chorus, it resembles the epic theatre of the German dramatist Bertold Brecht. As with the works of that playwright, the viewer is no longer passive since the play calls on his social conscience to change society. The theatre company wished to offer enjoyable plays, so the transition from one act to another is made by popular Indian songs. At the end of each act facts on the social and political reality in India or statistics on poverty and religious or class discrimination bring the viewer back to reality and remind him the happy ending that he has seen is the exception to the rule.
After the performance lively debates are held around what was witnessed in Unsuni. The troop created a network incorporating volunteers from different social organizations revolving around its website. In other locations, the actors spread the message “I Care” by holding workshops on producing plays. They managed to acquire the financial backing of the Netherlands, which allows them to make their struggle known abroad. To the same end, a tour of the United States is planned in 2008 so that the realities of life in India are known all over the world.
Also read: Resonances Asia N°21 - February 2008
