Bond Street Theatre: Activities

India Project

This exciting US-Afghan-Indian three-country project, led by Bond Street Theatre in collaboration with Exile Theatre of Afghanistan and local Indian artists, brings…

performances and theatre-based education to disadvantaged children in rural and urban areas of India,
arts-based training for teachers, and
artistic exchange with local theatre artists.
The two-year project (2006-2008) is funded by the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and other generous donors.

WHY INDIA:
India has thriving theatre traditions and strong community support for the performing arts. The arts are widely used in education and community development, practices that are still very new in Afghanistan and can be looked at as a model.

Theatre is an ideal medium for bringing essential information to rural or poor communities or those with predominantly illiterate populations and little access to electronic media. Information about health issues, fuel vouchers, or new agricultural methods can be easily depicted and described through theatre.

Following the project in India, the groups will bring these social theatre practices to Afghanistan – to benefit children, to introduce theatre as a teaching tool for educators, and help assist local communities.

India is providing a central location for the South Asian Social Theatre Institute, a new center for artists interested in social theatre practices to collaborate and work cross-culturally. The Center is being established by Bond Street Theatre in partnership with UNICEF and the Gandhi Center in New Delhi, and provides a lasting bridge of support between South Asian countries.

PHASE I – Feb-May 2007

THE LOCATION:
Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and rural West Bengal, and villages in the distant and dusty region of northern Bihar.

THE TEAM:
Bond Street Theatre, Exile Theatre of Afghanistan, Purvabhyas Theatre of Delhi, puppeteer-paper theatre artist Jenny Romaine, Nandikar Theatre of Kolkata, and Mandalla Theatre of Delhi.

THE PROJECT:
The group of 10 actors created and performed an entertaining (and educational) street performance, “The Kite’s Tale,” about cooperation and childrens’ rights, that was performed as an engaging introduction to each community. Starting with a performance helps gain community trust and interest in the workshop programs.

The three-country team led training workshops or exchanges with local artists who work the field of social theatre: Gatividhi Theatre in Bihar, Koshish Theatre in Hyderabad, Spandan Theatre in Bandel, Jagran in New Delhi, and other Indian artists and organizations that serve the public good.

The team taught workshops for street-working children, rural women, vocational students, teens, adults, actors and non-actors, all made possible by partnerships with UNICEF and Gandhi Smriti Center in Delhi and Banglanatak in Kolkata.

HIGHLIGHTS:

“Experiments with Theatre,” a performance created with 50 vocational students and 8 street-working children, most of whom were on stage for the first time. Students performed short pieces which they had created in the workshops. A parent told us after the show, “I have never seen my child so strong and confident!”

Workshops for the famed Patachitra painter-storytellers of West Bengal who practice a traditional folk form of singing stories depicted on painted scrolls. The team presented them with many ways to improve their presentations while keeping their tradition intact, as a way to boost their local economy which is based on sales of their art work.

Workshops for women in the rural villages of Brindiban in northern Bihar. The women here were so shy that we were convinced no one would return, but the next day the class had doubled! We taught all manners of self-expression through song, dance and acting, and confidence-boosting techniques such as stilt-walking and balances.

Mask-making and physical expression for 30 children from the violence-ridden area of Bastar in central India. These refugee children have been traumatized by years of rebel uprisings, and our workshops moved from liberating games to image-making relating to their emotions.