Theatre Group Research Articles

Chhukri Dance of Bangladesh:

Despite all distinctions, performances by males in female roles, widely known as Chhukri, are a common phenomenon in folk theatrical performances in Bangladesh. Male performers in this unique setting appear on stage as transvestite females with dexterity and believability in their costumes, make-up, gestures, and behavior. In this theatrical presentation, the male performer’s external change is clear and visible. What is the internal process of transformation? To what extent is social, traditional, or mythical performance knowledge practiced in the process of internal transformation? This ethnographic study aims to examine the process of transforming a male into a female role in traditional Chhukri Dance in Bangladesh. The traditional or mythological references of Shakti (energy) and Bhaba (emotion) have been selected as the key tools in analyzing the process of transformation. It also analyses how feminine gender is defined traditionally and performed socially within the practitioner communities, and how they are embodied aesthetically in the performer’s dance body. To examine hereditary performance knowledge and practices linked to Chhukri Dance in particular, this study describes two theatrical groups that give traditional performances. It explores thechhukri community and the training process, performance techniques and structure, and the codes and characteristics of the two Chhukri theatrical groups.

Identity development of Arab drama therapists: The role of ethnic boundary work

Previous studies have suggested that creative arts therapists who work in conservative societies must adapt their Western therapeutic ideologies to collectivist and traditional norms. Less is known about how these creative arts therapists construct and maintain their professional identity in diverse sociocultural contexts. Building on the literature that emphasizes the role of ethnic boundary work in professional identity processes, we examined how Arab drama therapists maintain, challenge, and negotiate ethnic boundaries in the process of professional identity construction.Participants were 38 Israeli-Arab drama therapists (36 female) working in Israeli-Arab schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (27 participants) and playback theater groups (12 participants). Thematic analysis revealed three different forms of ethnic boundary work: "Distinguishing Arab identity from drama therapy", "Drama therapy as an act of challenging ethnic and gender boundaries", and "Negotiating ethnic boundaries within the context of drama therapy".The current study emphasizes the sociocultural context of boundary work by illustrating how Israeli-Arab drama therapists define their professional identity across ethnic, gender, and political tensions. We conclude with implications for research and practice.

Analisis Tokoh Pada Film “Penyalin Cahaya” sebagai Korban Pelecehan Seksual Menggunakan Teori Kebungkaman

Film is a mass media that can influence people's mindset through the message it wants to convey. The film "Penyalin Cahaya" tells the story of Suryani, Farah, and Tariq, who experienced sexual harassment by a fellow Matahari Theater group member, Rama. Rama is described as a figure who has a powerful relationship with the university. This article uses a descriptive qualitative research method. The data collection technique used in this article is the listen-and-note method. The theory used in this article is the Theory of Silence by Edwin Arderner and Shirley Arderner. The purpose of this study is to determine the reasons for the silence experienced by victims of sexual harassment in the film "Penyalin Cahaya." The results of the analysis of the film "Penyalin Cahaya" using the Theory of Silence obtained that the cause of silence in women and men is the lower class, which does not have the power to defend themselves. The existence of authority is the main factor in silence in the film "Penyalin Cahaya." Keywords: Film, Sexual Harassment, Muted

Communication of health messages using theatre: Appreciative inquiry from Ubuntu theatre group.

Theatre involves expressing meaning in a collaborative art using words, movements, and visual elements. However, theatre remains poorly used as a viable teaching strategy or a method for communicating health messages. Instead, it is relegated to solemnly transmitting indigenous knowledge. To explore and describe communication of educational health messages through theatre using an appreciative inquiry approach. The study was conducted among the Ubuntu theatre group from a rural province in South Africa. The group is famous for using theatre to communicate educational health messages through the lens of Ubuntu philosophy. A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was followed. A non-probability purposive sampling was used to select thirteen members of the Ubuntu theatre group. Data were collected by two moderators from the two focus group discussions through conference calls. Deductive thematic content data analysis was used to describe the 4-Ds of appreciative inquiry. Theatre is a playful pedagogy that can cut through language and cultural barriers when used to communicate educational health messages. There is a need to formalise it as an alternative pedagogy within the health care sciences curriculum. Furthermore, the sustainability of theatre as an educational tool is dependent on expanding educational practices, documenting its success stories and periodical in-service training. Using Ubuntu innovation to communicate complex educational health messages through theatre can maximise learning. This study recommends that Ubuntu-infused health messages be conveyed using theatre. The study adds to the body of knowledge by presenting Ubuntu innovation in communicating health messages through theatre.

HOW EXPLORING BODY EXPERIMENTATION IN MODERN THEATER OF WEST SUMATRA: A TWO-DECADE STUDY (1990-2010) PRESENTED?

This article examines the emergence of body experimentation in modern theater groups in West Sumatra from 1990 to 2010, focusing on the motives behind using the body as a communicative medium in theatrical performances. The study aims to comprehend the conceptualization and factors contributing to the presence of innovative theatrical presentations. The literature review explores existing studies on Indonesian theater, particularly modern theater, and relevant works related to West Sumatra theater. Due to limited literature on West Sumatran theater, the study utilizes secondary data from journals, magazines, newspaper clippings, and the internet. The research employs a qualitative methodology, incorporating literature review, observation of selected theater groups engaging in body experimentation, and interviews with key figures. Data analysis involves transcribing interviews, selecting relevant information, categorizing data, and conducting a thorough analysis, revealing the evolution of body experimentation in West Sumatran theater. The discussion section delves into three key themes: the influence of traditional spirit on modern Sumatran theater, body exploration within modern theater groups, and the notable rise of body-centric theater in West Sumatra. The article emphasizes the interconnectedness of these themes and their impact on the dynamic theatrical landscape in the region. In conclusion, the research highlights the significance of body experimentation in West Sumatran modern theater, contributing to a broader understanding of evolving theatrical practices in Indonesia, offering valuable insights for scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts interested in the dynamic intersection of tradition and innovation in performing arts.

Features of creative self-development of adolescents with intellectual disabilities by means of theatrical art

Importance. The problem of creative self-development of adolescents with disabilities is very relevant, since the social adaptation of such adolescents implies the complexity of interaction with others, is characterized by an unformed skills of self-knowledge, self-organization, self-regulation, and other mechanisms of self-development. In particular, the creative self-development of adolescents with intellectual disabilities is associated with the development of thinking, motor skills, and communicative functions. This is possible through amateur theater as a form of social and pedagogical work with young people with disabilities. The purpose of the study is to determine the role and pedagogical possibilities of amateur theatrical art as a means of creative self–development of adolescents with disabilities, taking into account the specifics of adolescents with intellectual disability (mental retardation).Research Methods. In the course of the research, such theoretical methods as generalization, comparison, etc. were used, domestic psychological and pedagogical works in the field of theater pedagogy were studied, empirical methods were used – understanding the experience of working with participants of the psychotherapeutic theater “We”.Results and Discussion. It is revealed and substantiated that amateur theater is a means of creative development and self-development of a personality, that is, an environment where activities aimed at the personal development of adolescents with disabilities can be fully realized on the basis of the existing personal potential in accordance with the norms of morality and cultural context accepted in society. The pedagogical possibilities of theatrical art, realized in specific forms of work (trainings, sketches, effective analysis of a play, staged work, etc.) and used at various stages of organizational and creative activity of an amateur theater group, contribute to the development of appropriate skills of self-knowledge and self-organization, thinking, and communicative abilities of adolescents with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation).Conclusions. The application of the research results contributes to the development of new methods and means of pedagogical work with young people with disabilities, the formation of an effective creative environment for their creative self-development and social adaptation.

Internal Workshop: The Third Theatre Methodology of Embodying Hunger

Enzo Cozzi in his essay “Hunger and the Future of Performance” argues on the performative impossibility of representing hunger except through a state of trance. In contrast, for Third Theatre, the representation of hunger is a political act of empowerment and activism. Badal Sircar, the founder-director of the Third Theatre group Satabdi, introduces the phenomenon of hunger “practically, non-verbally” that enables the participants to “leap to another state of being,” says Jo Trowsdale in the article “Sitting in Badal’s Circle: Artist and pedagogue; the theatre of Badal Sircar.” The process of effecting this transition in the Third Theatre is called the Internal Workshop. Drawing on personal interviews with Third Theatre practitioners, my experiences of being a participant-observer in three Third Theatre workshops, and similar records of experiences by practitioners of this theatre, as a counterpoint to Cozzi’s view, in this essay I elaborate on the Internal Workshop process as the Third Theatre methodology of embodying and representing hunger.

Euphrase Kezilahabi’s Kaptula la Marx as a site of cold war contestation and communitas making

This article analyzes Euphrase Kezilahabi’s Kiswahili play Kaptula la Marx, examining its explicit engagement with Cold War politics, ideologies, and aesthetics. Kezilahabi blends the satirical and revolutionary, making the play a site for Cold War contestations and community-building. It is a work of postcolonial disillusionment but also a call to arms. By focusing on the portrayal of the African dictator, particularly his ill-fitting clothes as symbols of power, Kezilahabi satirizes and undermines the dictator’s authority. The play’s rich Cold War references reveal Kezilahabi’s global visions, addressing African politics’ entanglement in the global Cold War and a growing North/South divide. Additionally, the play draws on radical theater traditions, featuring a revolutionary leader figure and interactive elements with the audience that inspire oppressed groups to unite for change.

Anti-bolshevik Insurgencies in Vohlynia in 1919–1920

The study examines the resistance of the population of Vohlynia against the Bolshevik government from the spring of 1919 to the fall of 1920. The author carried out a heuristic search for documents (archival-criminal cases) opened by the employees of the All-Russian Emergency Commission (Vserossiyskaia odzhdenskaia komisia – VChk, in Russian) in the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine in Rivne, which reveal the specified topic, systematized and analyzed them. On the basis of the narrative synthesized from archival and criminal cases, the author came to the conclusion that the Cheka’s repressions against the participants of anti-Bolshevik insurgencies had an illegal, brutal, chaotic character, systematically violated elementary human rights, and not only the participants of the anti-Bolshevik uprisings, but also ordinary civilians became their victims. At the same time, the scope and implacability of anti-Soviet demonstrations in Vohlynia in 1919–1920, together with the actions of regular Ukrainian and Polish military units, delayed the establishment of the Bolshevik regime there for twenty years. The discussed topic can become the subject of a separate multi-faceted study on the basis of the considered documentary array originating from the departmental archives of the Ukrainian special services. foto 1. Rivne residents Edmund and Maria Żołądziewski with children.Source: HDA SBU, Rivne, f. 5(R), spr. P-10147. foto 2. Director of the 1st Cavalry Army theatrical group, Yefim Gerasimov.HDA SBU, Rivne, f. 4(R), spr. 559.

Abdul Muluk Improvisation Techniques in the Warung Kajang Lako Program on TVRI Jambi

One of the characteristics of traditional Indonesian theater, including Abdul Muluk Jambi, is that the performances rely on the improvisational abilities of the actors. Therefore, improvisation techniques are an essential element in traditional Indonesian theater acting, especially the Abdul Muluk Jambi theater. One of the theater groups that is intense in developing improvisation techniques based on Abdul Muluk's improvisations is Sanggar Pancarona Jambi. This research was conducted to find patterns of improvisational acting techniques in the Abdul Muluk performance by Sanggar Pancarona Jambi. The material object of this research is the performance of Abdul Muluk by Sanggar Pancarona which was broadcast on TVRI Jambi in the Warung Kajang Lako program. This event featured Abdul Muluk's appearance with a shortened duration. The selection of this object was based on the characteristics of the Abdul Muluk performance by Sanggar Pancarona which prioritizes the power of actor improvisation. To find patterns in Abdul Muluk's improvisation techniques, the research method used was a qualitative method with stages, observation, interviews and data analysis. The results achieved from this research are that Sanggar Pancarona Jambi uses improvisation techniques adopted from the Abdul Muluk Jambi theater. Abdul Muluk's improvisation technique which was applied at the Warung Kajang Lako TVRI Jambi event consisted of: Improvisation Rules, Building Agreement, Creating and Saying Topics, Creating Collective Imagination, Division of Tasks, Setting Timings, Starting from Introductions and Interacting with the Audience. The supporting element for Abdul Muluk's improvisation is music that is improvised in response to the actor's improvisation.

The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena

Based on concepts from Nogueira and Cruz, Bezelga, and Menezes, this article examines the practices of the theatre group which is based in a former silk factory in Barbacena, helping to make these listed buildings sustainable. After the factory closed government agencies took over the buildings. However, in the 1990s, the buildings were unoccupied until taken over by the Ponto de Partida Group in 1998. To restore the deactivated industrial heritage, the group involved the community of Barbacena in fund-raising and competitions, moving into Pavilion 1 in 2004. After the restoration of Pavilion 2, Bituca Music University was opened there, a tribute to the musician Milton Nascimento. Finally, the group established a community library in Pavilion 3.

Competing Choreographies of the Postcolonial Plantation: Planter’s Pageantry Meets Sistren Collective’s Sweet Sugar Rage

This essay examines the 1985 documentary film, Sweet Sugar Rage (co-directed by Honor Ford-Smith and Harclyde Walcott), and its methodologies of renewable resistance to the enduring choreographies of planter's pageantry in the postcolonial Caribbean. Produced by Jamaica's Sistren Theatre Collective – a radical community theatre group formed in 1977 – the film (the collective's first) documents a set of dramatic interventions focused on women's labour exploitation in Jamaica's sugar cane fields. A series of workshops and plays depicts the historical and current material conditions of cane workers and aims to support participants in the practical navigation of plantation labour. In staging the material conditions of post-independence Jamaican plantation labour, including the gendered hierarchies of union organising, these counter-choreographies of workers' solidarity re-occupy the cane field as a historically dense site of collective resistance. Furthermore, I argue, in their rejection of the ubiquitous and insidious staging of the plantation as an ahistorical, hyper-aestheticised dreamscape of leisure and play, these local counter-choreographies intervene on the scale of global history. The essay articulates the stakes of this refusal by historicising the installation of plantation heritage tourism as a nostalgic site of planter's pageantry that continues to erase the violent legacies of enslaved and indentured labour into the present day. Engaging the aesthetic and political consequences of these competing choreographies, the essay looks towards the future of the Caribbean as a global proscenium of postcolonial possibility.

Infantilization as a form of injustice: Reflections on the Polish educational field survey on the theatre made by persons with disabilities

The article is a study of theatrical work of adult persons with disabilities based on educational field survey conducted in Poland in the years 2017–19 (with later editorial work in the report). In the survey, five non-professional theatrical groups participated, whose work concentrates on creating space for the oppressed and deprived of voice and including the excluded into the local community. The article deals with the problem of infantilization (institutional, social and environmental) as a form of social injustice and presents the essence of the existential theatre by showing valued theatrical practices.

Stage Repertoire of the Soviet Regional Theater During the Period of Late Socialism

Relevance. Addressing the repertoire policy of theaters is relevant due to the fact that the study of the repertoire allows us to trace not only the main directions of artistic processes, but also the specifics of social changes of the era being studied.Purpose of the study: to study the specifics of the process of formation and implementation of the stage repertoire of theaters in the Urals in the political and ideological conditions of «developed socialism».Objectives. To achieve the research goal, the following tasks were formulated: to characterize the general principles of the formation of the stage repertoire and the practical mechanism for its compilation; study the themes and genre structure of the repertoire plans of regional theaters in the late Soviet period.Methodology. The methodological basis of the study was a systemic-historical approach, which allows us to study repertory policy as a system functioning in the socio-political environment of the era of late socialism.Results. The stage repertoire was an expression of the creative search of theater groups, carried out in conditions of compromise with the official policy of the state, the ruling party and the natural course of the artistic and aesthetic process. From the point of view of ideology and adherence to party guidelines, «mature ideological and artistic» and «box office» works stood out in the repertoire plans of theaters. The leading place was occupied by the plays of modern Soviet playwrights. The national orientation of the theaters of the multinational Urals was manifested in the embodiment of the works of national playwrights on the stages. A feature of the era was the introduction of plays for children and youth into the repertoire of not only theaters specializing in youth audiences, but also opera and drama groups.Conclusion. The repertoire of the Ural theaters was represented by a variety of works and was built taking into account the requirements of the era. The implementation of the repertoire policy of theaters contributed to the involvement of various socio-demographic groups of the population in the theatrical process, the expansion and complexity of the cultural space of the era under study.

The viability of social media theatre in Nigeria and the proliferation of actors and audience in the cyberspace

The emergence of the social media has indubitably altered the Nigerian theatre space. The social media stage has created a niche for individuals to somewhat independently practise theatre. The horde of actors and acting on the social media space or cyber space draws to itself a teeming audience that is better described as participators as they take active part in the performance through their views, reactions, comments, and replies. This deportment is so evident on the Nigeria social media space, creating new personalities such as Mama Uka, Ada Egara Nsukka, Oliver Nayoka, Mr. Funny (Oga Sabinus), and Brain Jotter. Using the media richness theory to attempt the development of social media theatre theory, this study takes an analysis of select Nigerian social media actors, their theatrics and relationship with their participators to appraise the viability of theatre on the social media stage. Their teeming followers – participators comprise people of disparate backgrounds who could have been cut off from the show if they were to attend the performances of those actors in the physical theatre, thus the proliferation of actors and participators on the social media space. Our conclusion is that the social media has improved, defying the physical limits of the traditional theatre. As individuals and groups begin to cultivate their theatre adventures on the cyber space which have observably received widespread participation, resulting from its elastic spatiality and impartation, professional theatre artists and groups need to cultivate more, the social media space for a sustainable theatre culture.

Disability, Theatre, and Performance: The Beginning

Abstract: The creation of the Disability, Theatre, and Performance (DTaP) Focus Group at the ATHE Conference 2023 marks a crucial step for inclusivity in academia and the arts for disabled scholars and artists. Despite facing obstacles, DTaP initiated effective efforts and garnered support from other focus groups at the 2023 conference. However, limitations and accessibility issues at the conference revealed ongoing challenges faced by disabled participants, highlighting the persistent barriers they encounter. This milestone founding represents progress, yet it also underscores the continued struggle for equitable representation and recognition.

О роли татарских женщин в развитии театрального искусства Туркестана в конце XX – начале XX вв.

The article analyses the emergence of theater as one of the types of European art in Turkestan in late 19th – early 20th centuries. The author reveals the significant role of the Tatar theater troupes “Sayar” and “Nur”, Tatar actresses S. Gizzatullina-Volzhskaya, F.I. Kudasheva, and F. Ilskaya in this process. The influence of Tatar women playwrights on Uzbek creative youth is shown. This was manifested in two facts: the publication of the first play by an Uzbek writer, which became the forerunner for a women’s literary school in Turkestan, and the appearance of actresses among Uzbek women who starred in the first Soviet films. The emergence of an amateur troupe from among the local population, growth in the number of clubs and theater groups, which consisted mainly of women, indicated an increase in the social activity of Turkestan women. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of interactions between Tatar and local national progressives in the formation of theatrical art in Turkestan.

Singing from the same hymnbook: South Asian Canadian solidarity in the long sixties in British Columbia

ABSTRACT This essay breaks new ground in writing the history of the long sixties by bringing in a strand of the Third World diasporic activism shaped by transnational mobility. It alludes to the role of the Naxalite movement in politicizing the youth of the Panjab, many of whom moved to Canada in the late 1960s and 1970s encouraged by changes in Canada’s immigration policies. This new wave of immigrants was confronted with racism and labour exploitation upon arrival. In response, they quickly formed new Left-wing organizations to defend their rights. The literary association of progressive Panjabi writers in British Columbia and other places was one such institution. It directly involved itself in political and cultural activism, besides literary activities by crossing racial and communal boundaries to create intercommunity solidarities. These Panjabi writers were also chroniclers of the global consciousness of their times as well as the local histories of resistance by their diasporic community. Through text and performance, their intercommunity cultural solidarity activism organically connected them to an older North American radical tradition of the anarcho-syndicalist Wobblies. The archive of the literary production of progressive Panjabi writers has been used in the essay alongside the video interviews recorded by the author with members of Panjabi theatre groups, musicians of a former rock band, a visual artist and photographer, and the founder of a local folk music festival. It brings to the fore new voices, perspectives, and experiences that shaped the intercommunity cultural solidarity activism of the long sixties in British Columbia.

Afrotempos: criação e deslocamentos em Mesa Farta, do grupo Pretagô (Porto Alegre, Brasil)

ABSTRACT This article, which is part of a doctoral research, reflects on some cosmogonic aspects of Exu, a Yoruban orisha, and his relations with the spectacle Mesa Farta (‘Plentiful Table’), by the theater group Pretagô (Porto Alegre-Brazil). The mythic-philosophical foundations that constitute knowledge of African origins are discussed; scenic strategies developed in the process of creation, that organize a way of thinking about scenic practice itself, based on assumptions distanced from Eurocentric theatrical and performative notions, are identified. It appears that the notion of afrotempo (‘Afro-time’), conceived as a Black strategy for relating to the creation process managed by the group’s artists, enables new approaches to doing and inscribing Black ethics and philosophy in the field of performing arts.

Товариство «Просвіта» на Луганщині в 1917 р.

The article examines the establishment and activities of the «Prosvita» Society in Luhansk region in 1917. Attention is focused on the analysis of the situation in the Slavyanoserbsky district in the Katerynoslav province, primarily in the district city Luhansk. The author provides basic biographical information about Yuriy Lysenko, the founder of the Luhansk «Prosvita», the head of an amateur theater group, a railway engineer, the nephew of the outstanding Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, and emphasizes his role in the formation of the Ukrainian movement in Luhansk in 1917. National holidays organized in May-June 1917 are considered, not only in Luhansk, but also in Varvaropilla (modern Pervomaisk) and Lozova Pavlivka (modern Bryanka). «Prosvita's» connection with local branches of the Ukrainian Social-Democratic Labor Party (USDRP) and the Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party (UPSR) was noted, as well as its participation in the elections to the Luhansk City Duma. At the same time, it was emphasized that the main form of activity of «Prosvita» in the Slavyanoserbsky district remained cultural and educational – the opening of Ukrainian bookstores and reading rooms, libraries, the organization of historical and local history lectures. The attempt to Ukrainianize school education and its failure due to a critical shortage of teachers willing to teach in Ukrainian are considered. It is concluded that «Prosvita» in Luhansk region in 1917 was the main organizational form of participation of Ukrainians in the national-cultural revival and formation of national self-awareness. However, it could not overcome the influence of the hostile pro-Russian community, which relied on a significant part of the local intelligentsia.