[nyfoil-l] JANA NATYA MANCH @ THE BRECHT FORUM: APRIL 29

[Ashwini Rao]

Please forward

Please join us for a discussion on
The Street Theatre Movement in India, with
Moloyashree Hashmi and Sudhanva Deshpande of the Jana Natya Manch, a  
radical street theater group from India.

@ THE BRECHT FORUM (see address below)
SUNDAY APRIL 29TH
6PM-9PM

MOLOYASHREE HASHMI is probably India's best-known street theatre  
actor, having done more than 5,000 performances of nearly a hundred  
street and proscenium plays all over India since 1970. A  
schoolteacher by profession, Moloyashree has written extensively for  
children. At present, she conducts the Theatre Practicum for students  
of the Bachelor of Elementary Education at Delhi University. She is  
Secretary of Janam.

SUDHANVA DESHPANDE is an actor, director, playwright and teacher, and  
has been with Janam since 1987. Sudhanva writes regularly on theatre,  
cinema, and politics, and has been published in a number of journals.  
A publisher by profession, he works as Managing Editor with LeftWord  
Books, New Delhi, www.leftword.com. He has held teaching positions at  
the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and A.J.K. Mass  
Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. He has  
directed, along with Sanjay Maharishi, a documentary on India's  
preeminent theatre director, Habib Tanvir and his troupe of rural  
actors.

ABOUT JANA NATYA MANCH (JANAM)
Jana Natya Manch was founded in 1973 by a group of Delhi's radical  
theatre amateurs, who sought to take theatre to the people. Its early  
plays were performed on makeshift stages the big and small towns and  
villages of North India. Janam's street theatre journey began in  
October 1978 and has become a vital cultural tool for workers,  
revolutionaries and social activists. Street theatre addresses  
topical events and social phenomenon and takes them straight to  
peoples' places of work and residence.
On January 2, 1989, the convenor of Janam, Safdar Hashmi, died in a  
New Delhi hospital following a murderous attack on Janam activists  
the previous day by anti-social elements patronized by the ruling  
vested interests. Janam was performing in support of the workers'  
demands led by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). Today,  
Safdar's name has become synonymous with street theatre and the  
progressive cultural movement in India.
Janam's work is funded directly by its vast audience. The group does  
not accept corporate or state funding. Janam's theatre is consciously  
political and partisan, and sees itself as a part of, and  
contributing to, the growing democratic movement in the country. It  
provides robust entertainment and promotes a democratic, secular and  
scientific consciousness among the people. Janam performs for and  
mobilizes support for many socio-political causes. Janam has  
performed both its street and proscenium plays in festivals organized  
by Prithvi Theatre (Mumbai), National School of Drama (New Delhi),  
Sahitya Kala Parishad (New Delhi), Natrang Pratishthan (New Delhi),  
Sangeet Natk Akaademi (Kerala), Natya Akademi (West Bengal) as well  
as scores of natya utsavs across the country. In its 34-year history,  
Janam has presented over 7500 performances in over 140 cities  
throughout India.

Please RSVP to ash at insaf.net. For more information call (917) 279-4923

The BRECHT FORUM
451 West Street  (Between Bank & Bethune)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 242- 4201
www.brechtforum.org

Transportation:
1, 2, 3  A, C, E to 14th Street, L to 8th Ave @14th Street.
14A, 11, 20 buses to Abingdon Square (where 8th Avenue meets Hudson  
Street), 8 bus to 10th & West Streets