Badal
Sircar was one of the most significant modern playwrights of post Independence
India. Starting in the fifties, with his deep understanding of the concerns and
anxieties of the Indian middle class coupled with his delightful sense of
humour and wit, he made an immediate connect with the people and brought a new
energy and excitement to the theatre arena with his large body of plays. He
stands out for his innovativeness and the sheer range of his plays in terms of
subjects, forms and styles. He is probably the most translated and staged
Indian playwright of the last century. Badal Sircar with his unique and
characteristic restlessness, passion and social commitment was constantly
experimenting not only with dramatic form and language but also with
performance spaces, acting styles and performer-spectator relationships.
Through experiments and exposure to different methodologies he explored and
developed his own theory and practice of theatre called the Third Theatre—a
theatre of synthesis between the urban and the traditional theatre. Donning
many hats – of playwright, theoretician, actor, director and activist – he was
a composite theatre personality, and liked to be known as such.
Single-handedly, he created a brand of theatre all over the country and
overseas which empowered small amateur theatre groups to practise theatre
without much infrastructure and training and with a strong sense of purpose.
This book, through memoirs, interviews, essays, dialogues, reviews and notes by
directors, traces the life and theatre of this iconic but lonely figure, from
different viewpoints, piecing together his relentless creative journey of more
than six decades.