A Theatre Philosophy 'Manjul Bhardwaj - Theater of Relevance' which created a theatre movement
March 30, 2012 12:00:00 AM IST MTG editorial
The book 'Manjul Bhardwaj - Theater of Relevance' is a wonderful document about the concept and fundamental process of the philosophy 'Theatre of Relevance' - initiated and practiced by Manjul Bhardwaj since 12 August, 1992.
Fundamentals of 'Theatre of Relevance':-
A Theatre that commits its creative excellence to make the world more 'Better & Humane'.
A Theatre relevant to the context of the society and owes its responsibility, not to Art just for the Art sake.
A Theatre caters to human needs and provides itself as a platform for expression.
A Theatre that explores itself as a medium of constructive change and/or development.
A Theatre that comes out from the 'limits of entertainment' to a way of living & empowerment.
It's since last 20 years that 'Theatre of Relevance' is applied and implemented nationwide. Based on 'Theatre of Relevance' more than two dozen plays have been performed all over India and across different parts of world.
The book has an intense conversation with Manjul Bhardwaj on various aspects of theatre and how he conceived the philosophy 'Theatre of Relevance' along with various inputs on - what is theatre, what is play writing, what is direction and acting. The book has lively documents of various experiments of connecting theatre with various groups of society and how theatre is connected with our day to day life apart from entertainment. The various experiments reveal theatre as strong medium which facilitates a constructive change in the life of audience.
Around 20 years ago, Manjul Bhardwaj was also having the same opinion like other Hindi theatre people that there are no original plays or discerning audience in Hindi. But in 1992, a Shakespearean tragedy happened in his theatre adventures which gave a new dimension to his thinking process. A question rose innocently but incessantly by a petty shopkeeper, made him to think that why there is no connection of my plays with this shopkeeper? Why there is no participation of ordinary people in my plays? And then he felt that until Hindi theatre gets connected with the masses it will keep on waiting for the audience. And it became the flash point for a new Theatre philosophy, a new Theatre movement in which the audience is the first and foremost theatre person. This movement was called 'Theatre of Relevance'.
The basic thought of this movement is that theatre is of the people, by the people and for the people. The theatre is relevant if an ordinary person finds the reflection of his own in the play. For last 2 decades this Theatre movement has presented/performed thousands of shows.
For the first time the philosophy and achievements of this movement has been compiled in a book edited by the well known writer Sanjiv Nigam. Most of the writing in the book has originated from the experiences and thinking of Manjul Bhardwaj himself. 'The Experimental Theatre Foundation' is the foundation of this movement. The communal riots of 1992 provided the first platform to test this philosophy. And the play 'Door Se Kisi Ne Aawaaz Di' performed by the group in the riots affected areas of Mumbai proved to be a soothing balm for the grief stricken people.
