Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Creative approach to usher in peace

T. Saravanan

Interesting part of the workshop is play production

Madurai: Using cultural platform, especially theatre, is an effective way to create awareness on burning issues among the public.

This technique is being followed right from the days of freedom struggle. Cashing in on the success of this practice, the Centre for Experiencing Socio-Cultural Interaction has organised an international theatre workshop and festival. The event began on December 20 and will go on for 10 days.

The theme of the annual workshop and theatre festival is `Theatre for Non violence and Peace'. The workshop discusses the social issue of denial of land rights through series of lectures. Besides, theatre techniques are also taught to effectively carry forward the message.

For this purpose, the organisers have invited NGO activists who are already involved in creating awareness on various issues among the public. Representatives from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are participating in this workshop. The international participants included two representatives from Pakistan and three from Nepal.

Eminent speakers dealt on various topics, which include transforming the society from a culture of violence to a culture of non-violence and peace.The interesting part of the workshop was the play production. The script would be evolved during the course of the workshop and the play would be staged on the final day of the theatre festival at Gandhi Museum.

"The workshop aimed at equipping the NGO activists to mobilise public force for the proposed `satyagraha', `Janadesh' (people's verdict) campaign on retrieving people's dignity through land and livelihood on Oct. 2, 2007. Ekta Parishad, the organisers of the satyagraha, would arrange for a walk from Gwalior to Delhi," said K. Biju, one of the coordinators of the workshop. Majority of the participants felt that the workshop was more than useful with loads of valuable information on the issue, which transcended boundaries.

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