Impudent and irresistible, Charandas is a thief with a difference. Having vowed never to lie, he manages to keep his word while robbing the rich blind. A typical folk hero, streetsmart and savvy, he runs rings around the forces of law and order till he comes up against one wall he cannot scale" his own commitment to the truth. And the unexpected twist at the end of this heartwarming comedy lifts the play onto another plane. This play by veteran playwright/director Habib Tanvir, performed by Naya Theatre's Chattisgarhi folk artists, is a contemporary Indian classic. When it was first staged in 1975, it made a tremendous impact. Folk actors on the contemporary stage, vibrant and self-confident, speaking their own dialect and performing their own material, albeit under the guiding hand of a master director, was a novel experiment in Indian theatre. Moreover, it was an experiment that worked, and that opened up a new direction in theatre practice. Twenty years later, Charandas Chor is still popular. It has been performed all over India, and at many forums and festivals abroad, winning the top award at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1982. This volume contains, along with the translated playscript, an introduction to Habib Tanvir's work in theatre by theatre scholar and critic Javed Malick and a long interview with the playwright/director in which he discusses the milestones in his long career. Anjum Katyal, the translator, is an editor and writer who lives and works in Calcutta.
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