The figure of the ‘stand-up comedian’, a lone performer who directly delivers jokes to the audience mostly without props, is very new to South Asia. But the ‘jester’ or the ‘fool’ is a scandalous — and thriving — figure in popular folk theatre, an art form that continues to captivate the majority of the region.
In November 2021, a group of eleven women found themselves sitting together in a room in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Three of us (Anushi, Ekta and Angarika) had traveled from Bangalore, and the rest from different parts of Madhya Pradesh. There was a nervous energy in the room. “Why do you think we’ve all come here?”
Hi, my name is Sri Vamsi Matta, or simply Vamsi. I am a Bengaluru-based theatre artist who has been involved with the theatre fraternity for over a decade. Post my graduation from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, theatre became an integral part of my life and a full-time profession.
For Du Saraswathi, writer, theatre person and Dalit activist, the community and the self are twin constituencies. Her theatre and poetry reveal the making of an individual through historical, political and cultural forces.
