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