What is Dalit Theatre?
In this speech, which Ramnath Cavhan, an exponent of the Dalit Drama Movement, has delivered at the All India Dalit Drama Convention of the year 1992, there are these answers:"Friends, this theatre belongs to all those whom the Hindu religion, caste and creed system have kept away from social, economic and educational benefits. It is the theatre of those who have been denied status as human beings: It is the theatre which concerns itself with the pain, sorrows and sufferings of these neglected people. It is the theatre of protest which aspires to get back basic human dignity for those from whom it was snatched away. It is the theatre which offers a challenge to the casteists. It offers a critique of religion. It exposes and presents the naked reality of injustice and atrocities. It demands an explanation of your sins and total neglect. It is the theatre which demands proof, without which nothing is acceptable to it."
"Friends, more than a period of twelve to eighteen years has elapsed since the stream of Dalit theatre has started in our Maharashtra [...]. This theatre has now attained maturity. If we compare its present day form with its primary form, it would reveal that a small stream has now converted itself into a big one. Branches and sub branches of Dalit theatre have now reached even outside Maharashtra. In states like Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Goa, Dalit writers and artists who have been inspired by Dr. Ambedkar´s thoughts about social change, have started the work of social awakening through the medium of drama and street theatre. At all these places the drama movement has been developing. Its credit however goes to the thought of Dr. Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule."
"Friends, the nature of the first few outbursts in this theatre, which,
since its inception, was holding the weapon of social change, were somewhat
volcanic and shattering indeed. The high caste people, who were daily fed
on the diet of 'entertainment', could not appreciate this kind of explosive
writing. This was only natural. How could they tolerate such thought provoking
plays which were indeed meant to make them think - the plays which were
realistic and committed to the problems of life? That what we call Marathi
theatre has not made any efforts to make the audience aware of a different
world which stands outside the life of domestic felicity and entertainment
- the world which is your own creation. And why should they try? The very
purpose of their writing is to entertain. The Marathi theatre, which has
come into existence only to cater to the needs of the feudalist society,
only represented the kings and the lords, and offered to them plays dealing
with myths and historical events for their entertainment. There was no
place for ordinary men and their problems of life and death.
The Dalit theatre is distinctly different from the mainstream of Marathi
theatre, which has a tradition of about a hundred and fifty years. It savours
human values. It drives to make men human and to inculcate on the people
the values of freedom, equality and fraternity, advocated by Ambedkar and
Phule. And yet, those who represent the establishment say: 'The Dalits
now have a separate hearth.' (that means: 'They have separated from
us.' G.N.) In a way, it is true. This hearth is for the neglected ones.
It is for those who have been exploited by tradition. When the representatives
of the establishment realized this, they said Dalit theatre has a separate
hearth. But this is not an ordinary hearth. That which is cooked here on
this hearth is quite different from what we already know. It is not palatable
to us. Its taste and flavour are likely to affect the taste which the tradition
has cultivated so far. And the audience realized it in its primary stage.
Some started showing signs of disapproval with the Dalit plays 'heated
on this altogether different hearth'. They began using adjectives with
pejorative meanings. They criticized Dalit theatre for its absence of delicacy.
They said that it is verbose, that it lacks artistry, and that it is all
propaganda; a kind of bellowing without sufficient cause. They said its
revolutionary fervour, anger, indignation and everything about it is unreal.
The expression of fury in it is simply unbearable. It is difficult to stand
up to the atrocities depicted in it! Finally: "The Dalit play is not 'drama'
at all." In saying so, they were trying to reject Dalit theatre itself.
Friends, those who are incapable of witnessing naked reality, or those
who expect that a woman crushed beneath the giant wheel of a vehicle should
cry out rhythmically - how can they watch a Dalit play being performed?
As a writer belonging to the Dalit theatre, I would like to tell you
something. The Dalit play is certainly a play of protest; but it is not
a betrayal of the 'soil'. Those who reveal bitter truth are bitter. They
are devastating, but not unreal. Implicit in these writings is a thought
of social change, of destroying the caste system and of national integration.
Such thoughts point to the need of realignment. Canvassing the thoughts
we advocate is also inevitable. The framework of the caste system will
not break, unless we make a frontal and powerful attack on its very foundation.
Dalit theatre has come into being in order to destroy the
caste system."
(Excerpts from Ramnath Cavhan's Presidential Address of the Seventh All India Dalit Drama Convention, held in Nashik, Maharashtra, in December 1992. Published in Marathi at A. Jnaneshvara & M. Bhosale, Pune. Translation: J.N. Paranjape) (top)
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