Perhaps no other theatre personality has had such a deep and pervasive influence on theatre practice and theory in post-independence India as Badal Sircar. As a writer of proscenium plays in the 1960s, all of which have been widely produced by leading directors in several Indian languages; as the pioneer of non-proscenium political theatre in the 1970s; as the mentor of countless directors and theatre activists who have carried his ideas to far corners of the ...
These lively, humorous plays use witty, tongue-in-cheek comedy to communicate social ideas and messages with a contemporary relevance. In Beyond the Land of Hattamala, Kena and Becha, two likeable thieves, jump into a river to escape being caught and get washed up on the shores of a never-never land where buying and selling are alien concepts since everyone works unitedly and everything belongs to the entire community, to be used and consumed as needed. Several ...