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Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case study

Article · July 2021

DOI: 10.20935/AL2041

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 ACADEMIA Letters
Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case
study
nandan bhattacharya, Jadavpur University

Abstract
The article gives an account of a month long environmental awareness programme
using Forum theatre method in Goria, Kolkata, India. The study was carried out by a
survey of the peoples’ opinion regarding the reasons of local pollution load. Theatrical
performances were based on the true stories given by audience and involved public par-
ticipation. The study clearly shows that theatre is one of the best medium for awareness
campaign and this method can certainly be a model by Government and non government
organisations to be followed further.

Keywords: Forum theatre, Applied theatre, Environment, Pollution

Introduction
General environment of the world is degrading drastically and the day is not far away when
we have to face ruthless annihilation. Experts from different fields are trying their level best
to solve the pollution problem. For general awareness 5th of June is declared as the World
Environmental Day and celebrated each year. But despite all sincere efforts the sea level is
still rising and the level of pollution is still beyond control. India exhibited poor status and
ranked third in the world to be the most affected country regarding pollution load (Statistica,
2021). According to a report by Numbeo (2015) the pollution index calculated for India was
76.9 and it ranked 23 among all the countries during mid 2015 when the present study was
carried out. But unfortunately the awareness among people regarding pollution and environ-
mental health is still very poor. A lot of measures regularly are taken to improve the awareness

Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: nandan bhattacharya, asstdirhrdc@jadavpuruniversity.in

Citation: Bhattacharya, N. (2021). Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case study. Academia
Letters, Article 2041. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2041.

1
but results are distant from expectation. “A public perception study designed to find out the
level of awareness — cause, effect, precaution and solution — of air pollution showed that
90% of the people interviewed across highly polluted cities have heard of air pollution but
lack awareness about the causes and effects” said Perappadan (2017). The reason behind
such ignorance and casualness is certainly high poverty index and subsequently poor literacy
rate without which awareness efforts usually culminates into some seminars of elite section
leaving the mass still ignorant. Therefore solution of pollution now needs active participation
of people. Poppe et. al. (2018) clearly described the benefits of PP in environmental aware-
ness. Forum theatre has immense capability to turn people to active participant rather to be
passive listeners. The very concept of Forum Theatre was introduced by Boal (2000). Several
works on environmental awareness were carried out earlier. The Community Environmental
Forum Theatre programme was inaugurated in 2002 (Sullivan and Lloyd, 2006), Middlewick
et.al. (2012) worked on environmental problem, healthcare issues. Metcalf and Veiga (2012)
reported about use of street theatre to increase awareness of mercury pollution in the artisanal
gold mining sector in Zimbabwe. Baldwin (2009) ‘provides an introduction to applied the-
atre and performance as a body of practice which may enhance the well-being of indigenous
communities’. Kasturi and Vardhan (2013) described about the contemporary initiatives to
cater social issues through theatre in India. In India recently Greenpeace India organised flash
mob method for awareness in Delhi on February 2020. In Kolkata Forum Theatre has been
practiced by Jana Sanskriti but no such initiative has been taken on the issue of environmental
awareness. Keeping such scenario in mind Goria Sucharcha took the idea of a month long
environmental pollution awareness campaign through theatre.

Method followed
The programme organised a survey at the locality around the Garia Bus Terminus, (22.46,
88.37), Raja Subodh Chandra Mallick Rd, Garia, Kolkata, West Bengal 700047. The survey
constituted on the basis of a questionnaire asking the different causes which the local people
feel to be responsible for pollution and statistical analysis was carried out on the basis of that
result. Total household surveyed were almost 100 and the survey reached around 1000 persons.
The stories of the theatrical performances were collected from the people in different locality
and performed accordingly using the Forum Theatre method. An open air group discussion
and cultural performances were organised after the one month duration at Garia Crossing on
the World Environment Day i.e. 5th of June, 2015. Prof. Gupinath Bhandary, Director, Cen-
tre for Disaster Preparedness & Management, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Prof. Amit Dutta,
Department of Civil Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Mr. Chayan Bhattacharya,

Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: nandan bhattacharya, asstdirhrdc@jadavpuruniversity.in

Citation: Bhattacharya, N. (2021). Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case study. Academia
Letters, Article 2041. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2041.

2
Councilor, Ward No. 111, Calcutta Corporation, Mr. Arup Chakraborty, Councilor, Ward
No. 111, Calcutta Corporation were present as resource persons but instead of just listening
them as it happens in conventional seminars a lot of bystanders even shared thoughts making
the event participatory. During Cultural performance the theatrical productions were staged
and several other individual and group performances by local children and other people on
relevant issue were performed to encourage and enhance peoples’ participation. Finally an
open air verbal deputation to the councilors was submitted to take necessary actions on the
problems identified by the local people.
During the survey three theatrical productions were performed. The first one (‘Gaachh’,
The Tree) was on the issue of deforestation and increasing buildings by real estate companies.
The second drama (Sangskar, The Reform) was on a local pond of several centuries old which
is now under severe threat of eutrophication and needs immediate dredging and other neces-
sary steps to recover the waterbody from destruction. The third production (Bishbinashee,
The slayer of poison) was created on a holistic way to describe the danger and probable so-
lution of air pollution. The former two were based on the interaction with the people and the
third one was scripted by the theatre group.

Result and Discussion

The probable causes identified by the people of the concerned locality were mainly wetland
degeneration, west disposal, deforestation, dust smoke etc. (Figure 2). The theatrical produc-
tions started with a general story by audience but after portraying the play or skit for 20 to
25 minutes discourse was initiated and eventually the story no longer confined into the prob-
lem of mere environmental problem of a single person (the story giver) of a given spatial and
temporal circumstances. Instead it took a turn to broader socio-political issues concerning the
failure of environmental management at the local level to the policy taken by the Government
or even the issue of the Kyoto Protocol and people debated on the matter with keen interest to
find out the solution. Indeed we experienced the statement and doctrine of Boal as he said “It
is not the place of the theatre to show the correct path, but only to offer the means by which
all possible paths may be examined” or the following statement, “The rehearsal stimulates
the practice of the act in reality. Forum theatre, as well as these other forms of a people’s
theatre, instead of taking something away from the spectator, evoke in him a desire to practice
in reality the act he has rehearsed in the theatre”. (Boal, 2000). We found that on the spot
people decided to keep vigilance on the pond referred so that it can be prevented to be pol-
luted by plastic and other waste products. In other localities also such enthusiastic initiatives
were taken by the inhabitants. This corroborates with the observation of Zhang and Chen

Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: nandan bhattacharya, asstdirhrdc@jadavpuruniversity.in

Citation: Bhattacharya, N. (2021). Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case study. Academia
Letters, Article 2041. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2041.

3
(2018); Jiang et.al. (2016) as they opined “As an effective supplement for market failure and
government failure, public participation is an important power for environmental supervision.
Effective public participation is strongly encouraged for environmental supervision. To pro-
mote public participation, environmental education among the public is essential, since public
awareness can facilitate positive public participation”. In this case Forum theatre method was
proved to be an effective way to enhance public participation. The findings are also in tune
with the statement made by the Director, Applied Theatre India Foundation Shri Kaustubh,
“The purpose of Applied Theatre is to make people aware about their real issues and help
them explore the best possible way to deal with it. Applied Theatre is gaining importance
worldwide because it deals with a tremendous amount of hope and possibility of exploration
to deal with issues in a very positive way” (India Education Diary Bureau Admin, 2020).
Thus this study in one hand surveyed the pollution load of locality and on the other hand
it created peoples’ participation not only in general awareness but active decision making and
active contribution to keep the locality pollution less. Therefore, it is strongly recommended
to use this sort of awareness campaign not only for environmental betterment but for other
social issues.

Acknowledgement
The author deeply acknowledgesProf. Gupinath Bhandary, Prof. Amit Dutta, Mr. Chayan
Bhattacharya, and Mr. Arup Chakraborty for their valuable presence. Heartiest regards are to
the actors and team members of Goria Sucharcha, the Group theatre for their all out support.
Sincere respect and love to the people participated in the programme.

References
Statistica. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1135356/most-polluted-countries-in-the-world/
retrieved on 08.04.2021

Numbeo, 2015. Pollution Index by Country 2015 Mid-Year.

Perappadan, B. S. 2017. ‘90% citizens aware of air pollution but lack awareness of causes and
impact’. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/90-citizens-aware-of-
air-pollution-but-lack-awareness-of-causes-and-impact/article25528325.ece (Retrieved on
08.04.2021).

Poppe M., Weigelhofer G., Winkler G. (2018) Public Participation and Environmental Ed-

Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: nandan bhattacharya, asstdirhrdc@jadavpuruniversity.in

Citation: Bhattacharya, N. (2021). Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case study. Academia
Letters, Article 2041. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2041.

4
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Boal, A. 2000. Theatre of the oppressed. Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London

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Middlewick, Y., Kettle,T. J. And Wilson, J. J. 2012. Curtains up! Using forum theatre to
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Metcalf S. & Veiga, M. 2012 Using street theatre to increase awareness of and reduce mercury
pollution in the artisanal gold mining sector: A case from Zimbabwe Journal of Cleaner
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Baldwin, A. 2009. Applied Theatre: Performing the Future. Australasian Psychiatry 17

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India Education Diary Bureau Admin. Dec 19, 2020. https://indiaeducationdiary.in/first-

ever-applied-theatre-conference-in-india-grabbed-international-attention/

Academia Letters, July 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: nandan bhattacharya, asstdirhrdc@jadavpuruniversity.in

Citation: Bhattacharya, N. (2021). Environmental awareness through Forum Theatre: A case study. Academia
Letters, Article 2041. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2041.

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