Souradeep Roy of ICF speaks to Makarand Sathe on the difficulties in doing political theatre in Maharastra. The colonial Dramatic Performances Act of 1876 is still prevalent in the state which makes it impossible for playwrights to take a critical look at iconic personalities, such as Shivaji. In 2015, Govind Pansare, the author of Who Was Shivaji? was shot by assaitants for his views. How can writers playwrights engage with historical figures if the law does not permit for their names to be taken on stage? Watch Sathe answer address these issues here:
Read Makarand Sathe play Te Pudhe Gele (They Went Ahead) here. Watch an excerpt from the play here.
Watch our interview with Samik Bandyopadhyay on the censporship of a play based on Mahasweta Devi’s “Draupadi” at the Central University of Haryana here.
Read the statement by the Indian Cultural Forum editorial collective condeming the incident in Haryana here.
Read our interview with Megha Pansare here.
