From Boal to Jana Sanskriti: Practice and Principles

Sanjoy Ganguly is the founder and Artistic Director of the Jana Sanskriti Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed, in West Bengal, India; considered by Boal the chief exponents of his methodology outside his native Brazil. He is the author of Jana Sanskriti: Forum theatre and democracy in India (2010). Ralph Yarrow is Emeritus Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature at the University of East Anglia.

Foreword Eugène van Erven

Preface Ralph Yarrow
PART 1: Workshops Sanjoy Ganguly

Developing Boal’s Games into Social Metaphors

Index of Exercises

Introductory Exercises






While Walking



Feel the Protagonist



Express Emotion



Variation, Finding Oppression



Indian Parliament



Fish Society



Game of Power



Expression with Body

1






Joint Sculpture



Circles of Emotion



Sculpting in Pairs, plus Variation

2






Human Knot, plus Variation



Variations of Grandma’s Footsteps








The Deer and the Tiger



Crossing the Border








Spontaneous Group Sculptures



Development of Status Game

3






Forum in a circle



Variation on Columbian Hypnosis, plus further Variation



Blind Game



Storytelling

4






Catch in the Circle



Newspaper Theatre



Points of Contact



Invisible Friend



Soundscape and Images



Characters’ Stories

5






Moving as Still Image



Experiencing the Lives of Others



Glass Cobra becomes Trade Union Game

PART 2: Interviews with Sanjoy Ganguly and short essays






Interview by Robert Klement Interview by Robyn Kirkby Interview by Clément Poutot Interview by Joschka Kȍck Interview by Clément Poutot, on Vivekananda Sanjoy Ganguly: The Political Aesthetic of Jana Sanskriti: Theatre
as an Art of Creating Connection

Coda: Sanjoy Ganguly: ‘Aesthetics as Transformation’ Postscript: Sanjoy Ganguly: A critical space: Forum, Jokering and the problem of sympathy Letters from Augusto Boal and Sanjoy Ganguly