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Theatre of Relevance – Connecting grassroots to International Theatre Academia ! -Manjul Bhardwaj
In the year 2000, I was invited by DIE VOLKSHOCHSCHULE to conduct “Theatre of Relevance’ workshop for youth & children in Osnabruck in Germany.
Mostly theatre workshops happen around acting. Whoever conducts the workshop starts with body warm up. The participants also made their mind set to expect that there will be a warm up in the beginning. This is a pattern across the globe. Just ponder, Do theatre means acting only?
When I started the workshop in a village school near Osnabruck, students of 10th class were expecting that there will be body warms through different games & theatre exercises. Theatre of Relevance philosophy breaks this norm. Why carry a baggage of what you has already done somewhere? Why not create new games & exercises? Every workshop has different purpose & different participants so why bulldoze them with rut.
So in the beginning I asked the participants to sit in a circle. I asked what you want to do in the workshop. Student were not very clear, they replied, want to do body warm up, want to know about Theatre of Relevance, want to have fun, don’t know etc. So we started to question ourselves. Why am I participating in this workshop? Whose workshop is it? This workshop belongs to an individual, group, facilitator or this is a collective workshop. The answer was,’ this is a collective workshop’. So every member was the owner of the workshop that means the member is a part of decision making process. All decision will be taken collectively in the workshop. After this resolution we started exploring ourselves as person & performer, individual & group! This process exhausted the students. They were going through this process first time. What we achieved was to ensure everyone’s participation. Normally in this kind of workshop tokenism of participation is the norm. Facilitator of the workshop caters to few choices of group members & others follow.
After this intensive process participants said we want to have some fun. So I said let’s have fun. The group was still expecting that I will suggest some games which they will follow. There is always a difference between awareness & behavior. We don’t apply all the awareness in our life. Until & unless you apply your awareness in your behavior then all becomes useless. So I asked the group, ‘How will they have fun?’ One student said by playing games. I said what kind of games. Who will decide what game to play? I suggested can every member suggest one game and others will participate. Group agreed. Each student suggested their favorite games and every one participated. We had fun. At the end of day one everyone was exhausted but filled with lot of cognitive & creative energy.
On second day we analyzed what we did & why we did? I said, ‘Theatre is a well thought out process. Every point is clearly decided & rehearsed. The difference between theatre & life is that in theatre every performance is recreation of life & pre decided, in life incidents happens of their own.’ So the theatre practitioners have to understand these nuances of purpose and to communicate that purpose has to create a performance. So I asked the group why you played a game of crazy, happy, sad, bad, busy, shy, influenced by others, child in 2ndclass, anxious frightened, cruel & angry person. Group replied to show emotions, in theatre we show emotions. I further asked why these particular emotion. Why every one of you chose that emotion. Is there a connection between you and that emotion? You were free to choose, then why that emotion? Theatre decodes all state of human mind Conscious, sub- conscious & unconscious. Theatre is to ignite enlightening state of human mind. Theatre raises issues, questions system & state in retrospective & reflective mode. Participants reflected and shared their connection with that particular emotion. All participant open up themselves, some sort of catharsis. After this wonderful process everyone was feeling emancipated. That’s what theatre does, it emancipates you.
Along with me there were nine other innovative theatre practitioners of theatre from different parts of world I.e. England, Philippines, Austria, Italy, Brazil and Germany. Every day in the evening we all innovative theatre practitioners were sharing their day’s experiences. Almost all were following the Augusto Boal method of ‘Theatre of Oppressed’. Applying ‘Theatre of Oppressed’ games they were doing improvisation. When I shared my experience everyone said, ‘interesting’! Everyone started reading about “Theatre of Relevance”.
On third day we decided to write a play. Normally in a play playwright weaves the story around one protagonist. I suggested why not every one of you weaves a story which presents everyone’s concern & issues. The group really struggled but at the end brought a wonderful & unique idea. They decide to perform a play titled ‘Life is not a super market’! Theme revolves around time parents spend with their children. Do they spend enough time? In a developed country like Germany everything you can buy & give but what about time, love & care. So students search for their parents to get a signature on their school report card. They search their parents & find them in a super market.
On fourth day again the group was seeking the directorial advice from me but I said you can do it of your own. They rehearsed with themselves, Decided their sets, props, lights, music etc. On fifth day every innovative theatre practitioner’s group presented their workshop performances. While innovative theatre practitioners were involved with their groups during performance too I was sitting in the audience & enjoying. The group performed beyond expectations. In the evening innovative theatre practitioners said to me, ‘we are finding your briefing a little vague, but today’s performance was magical’. I replied my all participants are magical, they wrote, directed, presented & performed the play, I just facilitated! All international innovative theatre practitioners applauded!
In this same module I did a workshop with professional actors, performers & directors. They all wanted to experience the innovation, concept, Fundamental’s & method of “Theatre of Relevance”. We started very well shared the processes. The group was performing different situations. One of the situations was to perform hunger. All performers struggled to authentically perform hunger. Born in Europe where you have enough to eat, those who never experienced hunger were trying to perform it. After a long struggle I shouted on the performer. She immediately reverted back sorry; you can’t shout on me I am a German. I replied angrily, “I am not shouting on a German, I am shouting on the helplessness of my performer who authentically wants to perform hunger!” Every one present in the auditorium shouted Bravo after my reply. The performer hugged me. The conflict was resolved! The same performer later organized ‘Theatre of Relevance” workshops in Eastern Germany.
Actually the European theatre academia wanted to know when all theatre philosophies of theatre exhausted in dealing with human conflicts then how ‘Theatre of Relevance’ philosophy is resolving human conflicts while emancipating from injustice.
In Halle a town in eastern part of Germany I facilitated a module “zivilcourage”. Halle is a beautiful town on the river Saale. I had beautiful memories of this place. Facilitated two workshops one with school children & another with professional performers & theatre activists. With school children prepared a unique play “Mother land of our dreams”. This play dealt with the false notion of nationalism. Amazing play to expose the narrow mind set of few sick people who destroy the world in the name of nationalism. This play prepared in 2002 in Germany is very relevant to us in the current regime.
The workshop with professional performers & theatre activists happened to be never before. The group decided to search the unknown. We were in a big room. Then I suggested, reach out the whole room without touching the floor, only once you can take help from other participant. To reach out to unknown it is essential to experience what is known to you. The group agreed. Some lay down on the floor, some stood, and everyone used their body to create a shape. Every one invented their way to reach from one corner to another. Every participant was alert & engrossed. It was an intense exercise. At the end I asked everyone to share their experience, ‘what unknown you experienced’. All shared their experience but one participant started crying. She cried the whole day; in the evening she briefed that she experienced the agony & tragedy of people in concentration camp. She said, “As I was crawling over other participant’s body I was feeling the pain of people in the concentration camp. I thank to ‘Theatre of Relevance” processes for emancipating me from my cultural baggage & burden!”.
From 2000 to 2003 I conducted various modules based on ‘Theatre of Relevance’ philosophy in different country & cities of Europe. Every workshop was unique. I had wonderful memories of each of this workshop. May be later I will write a memoir. I thank all the participants from different countries who participated & enriched my experience. Of course I thank all my hosts & organizers & looking forward to work with them in future.
…to be continued..
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