Jana Sanskriti

Forum Theatre and Democracy in India

Sanjoy Ganguly author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:26th Apr '10

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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Jana Sanskriti cover

Jana Sanskriti Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed, based in West Bengal, is probably the largest and longest lasting Forum Theatre operation in the world. It was considered by Augusto Boal to be the chief exponent of his methodology outside of its native Brazil.

This book is a unique first-hand account - by the group's artistic director Sanjoy Ganguly - of Jana Sanskriti's growth and development since its founding in 1985, which has resulted in a national Forum Theatre network throughout India. Ganguly describes the plays, people and places that have formed this unique operation and discusses its contribution to the wider themes espoused by Forum Theatre.

Ganguly charts and reflects on the practice of theatre as politics, developing an intriguing and persuasive case for Forum Theatre and its role in provoking responsible action. His combination of anecdotal insight and lucid discussion of Boal’s practice offers a vision of far-reaching transformation in politics and civil society.

'This book is a small gem...It is at once an engagement with a major strain in political theatre, a document of a vital practice, a meditation on the difference that engaged art can make.' – Randy Martin, New York University, USA

'Anyone who wants to understand the usefulness of Boal’s work and its possibilities, especially when removed from Boal’s own projects and from its implementation in a first world context, needs to pay attention to Sanjoy Ganguly and Jana Sanskriti.' – Franc Chamberlain, UCC Cork, Ireland

'...makes an important link in the urgency of theater as catalyst for social change, fusing TO with Ganguly’s unique skills as a communicator and effective leader.' – Brian Brophy, Director of Theatre Arts - California Institute of Technology, USA

ISBN: 9780415577519

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 500g

182 pages