6. Theatre of Relevance – crusader against violence! - Manjul Bhardwaj

While performing on community issues, we started focusing on special themes. In 1994 we performed play “Dwandwa” on domestic violence. This is a phenomenon which happens everywhere but no one has the courage to accept. Mostly the victims are women & children. In a patriarchal society it seems that beating wife is a birth right. The sufferer has no place to complain or an alternative shelter. Police was & is pathetic to handle such cases of domestic violence.

Many organizations collaborated with us in hosting performances of play “Dwandwa”. We performed in auditoriums as well as in communities. The performance was very intense & powerful. I was playing the character of husband who beats his wife & children. After the performance we used to come down from stage to interact with audience. Women in the audience were afraid of me. They were avoiding me. Some were angry, disgusted and full of hate. They knew this was a play, but it was so real & impactful that audience was not able to detach from the impact.

When you have social sanction to injustice then helplessness becomes your fate. This is the fate of Indian women. This is the biggest hypocrisy of our society that on one side we worship women as devi and on other side we subjugate her. The identity of women is only an object. Still the Indian women are fighting to be recognized as a human being.

What changed from 1994 to 2019 as far as atrocity on women is concerned. Actually nothing, the rape, violence, objectification, gender disparity, sex selection, stereo typing in serials, films & Media are regular feature.

But determination to fight injustice has enhanced, be it the case of Nirbhaya, teen talak, Sabrimala , Arifa or Unnav case. Judicial activism is a ray of hope. Right wing forces are combined with profit mongering market is not allowing the scenario to change. So the patriarchal system & hierarchy are still intact inspite of law & beti padho,beti bachao slogans.

We designed “Dwandwa’ differently for community performances. This is an irony that domestic violence scenes become a laughing point. When we performed these violent scenes the male audience was laughing... As soon as they start to laugh, I was pausing my character & switching on my role as a sutrdhar. I was asking this laughing male audience,’ aap bhi aise hi marte ho na apne gharon mein apni maa,bhan,bibi aur betiyon ko’ ( you are beating in your homes your mother, sister, wife & daughters in the same way? It was like a slap. After such intervention the impact was retrospective & reflective. But still women audience was afraid of me because of my role in the play. After the performance we held discussions. Initially there was denial; slowly everyone stated sharing their experiences.  The taboo of stigmatization was broken. Media started writing stories on domestic violence. Men also initiated campaign against violence on women. New counseling centers were opened. Our play influenced the society to talk about this issue openly. General awareness enhanced sensitivity; this sensitivity become owning for men & women not to indulge in violence. The collective understanding initiated the process of transformation required for a non-violent & gender just society. The challenge is century’s long, miles to go to actualize the dream of social equity. Important is we began to crusade against violence!

#TheatreofRelevance #Violence #Crusader #ManjulBhardwaj

…to be continued…