Evan Hastings, trained in Augusto Boal's theatre of the oppressed, has evolved a style of his own. Acting as a mediator between the performers and the audience, Hastings has worked in different countries with people from various backgrounds to address issues of gender violence and discrimination. With the Bangalore NGO Drishya and at city colleges, Hastings has given voice to the downtrodden. This month, after an intensive workshop with students of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Hastings will stage “Shadow Liberation,” a participatory theatre piece that depicts unresolved conflicts. The issues are universal and relatable and the performances hold up a mirror to the audience and it is up to the audience to provide solutions.
“Shadow theatre is a perfect metaphor. The shadows of oppression dance against the fabric of society,” says the performer and activist. Talking about the training, Hastings says: “I trained them from November to April. It involved many stages. There were improvisational activities, in which we built ‘image bodies', explored the process of being ‘gendered' etc. I later took them to Visthaar, a retreat centre. They came up with ideas and used their bodies to create shadows. We even held an interactive shadow party and played games to develop camaraderie among the group members.”
There was also cross-training with the local “Your's Truly Theatre”. A preview of “Shadow Liberation” was held at the South India Dalit Theatre Festival in December. The response was overwhelming. Hastings has a good understanding of the complexities of the caste system despite his short stay in India. “Both the outsider's perspective and the privilege of being a foreigner in India have helped. The caste system reminds me of racism in the United States.”
He uses aesthetic distance to help people understand each other's stories. “We create an optimal distance between feeling and observing yourself. We use different modules of style. It's about being a spect-actor (being a spectator and actor, simultaneously), as it were.”
The theatre process involves “pausing at the moment of decision”. “You see your painful personal experience within a larger social construct. You understand it isn't inevitable and that they happen for a reason.”
Going by the responses of the students of Srishti, “Shadow Liberation” has been a rewarding experience. Vishakha Jindal writes in the Shadow Liberation blog: “It is exactly like growing out of my old jeans and discovering a new me. Standing up for something I truly believe in and putting off evil shadows by throwing light on it. Each step becomes stronger day by day as I walk on the lines of expression. All mistakes and frustrations surround me and they teach me how to deal with it. Devoting myself for six months and facing the stage to express the same is why I love ‘Shadow Liberation'.”
“Shadow Liberation” will be performed at Yours Truly Alma, number 1, 17E cross, CMH Road, Indiranagar on March 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost Rs. 75 per head, and are available at >www.bookmyshow.com . For details visit >http://shadowliberation.blogspot.com or call 9972072437.
