Activist Theatre and Theatre Activism in India: A Gendered Reading

What we define as the autonomous “politics of culture”—“art that is not viewed as an instrument, but as a form of knowledge, and a political practice”—is missing from the agendas of progressive movements and political organizations, as also from the activities of many individual theatre practitioners. This talk aims to have the two strands of gendered theatre practice “converse” with each other, on the basis of examples drawn from the theatre practice of some women directors in India today.