The street theatre has time and again proved an effective communication tool for taking even the toughest message in a simple way to the people, in particular to the rural masses.
Of late, this form has come good for propagating social messages and creates awareness among the people on the serious issues concerning the whole society. The post-graduate and M.Phil students of the Department of English of Periyar University here got an opportunity to understand the nuances and practice the street plays, thanks to the three-day workshop, organised by the department, which commenced on Thursday.
About 60 MA and M.Phil students are being imparted training by experts from Madurai and Salem on the various aspects of street plays.
The main objective of the initiative is to attract the student community towards this cultural form and use it as a main tool for propagating various social issues, says V. Sangeetha, Head of the Department of English, Periyar University and convener of the event.
The social issues such as child marriages, child labour, sexual harassment of girls at educational institutions and work places have been a cause of great concern to the entire present day society. The prevalence of the same is mainly attributed to the lack of awareness among the people. The street plays could be effectively used as a tool to check this trend.
A majority of the students of the English literature pursue the course with the objective of becoming teachers. Armed with street plays, they can create awareness among the rural masses in future, Ms. Sangeetha adds.
A. Sathyamanickam, Director, ‘Maiyam’ Street Play Movement, Madurai, and N. Velpari, founder, ‘101’ Dimensions’ – an exclusive child development programme in Salem city, are the main resource persons. They are being assisted by Palpandi, a Maiyam volunteer, who is an expert in a record 16 folk art forms, and K. Sindhu, Assistant Professor of English, and organising secretary of the programme.
Mr. Sathyamanickam and Mr. Velpari said that the students were being taught on origin and history of street theatre, voice modulation, body language, theatre exercise, script writing, rendering of songs, and how to make use of the limited materials and properties available with them for conveying the message in an effective way. “The initial an hour or two was utilised to remove the shyness and fear psychosis among the students”, Mr. Sathyamanickam said.
The programme has evoked overwhelming response from the student community. “They closely observe us and are proud to be a part of change”, Mr. Velpari said.
“We are not going to stop with this”, says Ms. Sangeetha. Vice-Chancellor C. Swaminathan has evinced keen interest in such ventures and has assured all support. We are planning puppet shows, Thappattam, Oyilattam etc in future, she said.
