Nukkad natak highlights the plight of women in Chhattisgarh

This week will mark another celebration of International

Women

's Day, Feminism, gender equality and misogyny were some of the topics college

students

of

Raipur

highlighted through a recently staged street play at Marine Drive.
Independent theatre troupes from city colleges are telling various stories using the platform of street plays. Ashish Chaubey, a student of MBA says, "Right from the villages of

Chhattisgarh

to Bastar and tribal culture,

nukkad natak

has a lot of importance in our culture. And we don't want the art form to die out. Hence, with some relevant topics, we are staging plays across Raipur to engage people in this art.”
To be continually potent, nukkad natak has to adapt to the changing times. observes street play artiste Ravi Shukla. “The public today is new, much more aware and one that at the touch of a button is connected to the globe. The challenge is to convert this awareness into dialogue and possible action. For this, we have to change the format, content and use vernacular language. Today characters are more realistic. And Raipur theatre groups are being politically incorrect, so that the theatre can remain of the people.”
Street theatre as a concept came into the mainstream in Chhattisgarh through the efforts of tribal artistes.

“Initially street theatre came out from the culture wing of political parties, mostly left oriented. Nukkad natak became the medium of bringing issues to the people. In the 80s it became more active, to the extent that the system became cautious of its power,” says Avinash Jha, a student of theatre.
People of Raipur too are really impressed with the emerging trend of street plays in the city. "Many youngsters have formed independent theatre groups in the city and are staging plays based on social issues. Which are well received by the people," says budding theatre actor Avinash Waghule.
Using colourful props and choosing to crowd favourite places in the city like Telibandha, theatre groups pull in the audience by their talent and versatility. "The play we stage is not longer than 30 minutes, and the challenge is to tell our story and deliver our message to people within that time frame. If the play is longer than that, the audience tends to lose interest," says Abha Gupta, a theatre artiste.