Safdar Hashmi: Towards Theatre for a Democracy (Reissue)
Anjum Katyal
Price
575
ISBN
9789354426698
Language
English
Pages
240
Format
Paperback
Dimensions
140 x 216 mm
Year of Publishing
2024
Territorial Rights
World
Imprint
Orient BlackSwan

Safdar Hashmi (1954–1989) became a national icon of resistance after his death on 2 January 1989, following a brutal attack while performing a street play. The firebrand artist, actor, playwright, poet, and activist embodied a dynamic turning point for street theatre, and his group, Jana Natya Manch (Janam), is still considered a leader in the genre of political theatre.

Examining the cultural and political environment of the time, Anjum Katyal situates Safdar and Janam within the larger history of Indian political theatre. The book discusses Safdar’s career, from his early life and the influences that formed him; to his first forays into theatre in Delhi in the 1970s; to the mature work he produced in the 1980s until his life was cruelly cut short; and finally, the legacy he left behind.

The author brings together sources ranging from detailed interviews, to writings by and on Safdar, as well as critical pieces on Janam’s theatre. The study is supplemented by her masterful English translations of three of Janam’s most popular plays:  Machine, Hatyare,  and  Aurat.

This comprehensive study of Safdar Hashmi’s legacy will be invaluable to theatre institutions, students, scholars and researchers of performance studies, culture studies, and sociology, and those interested in a cultural history of Indian theatre.

Anjum Katyal is a writer, editor and translator. She has translated plays by Habib Tanvir and Usha Ganguli, and fiction by Mahasweta Devi and Meera Mukherjee. She has been Chief Editor, Seagull Books, Calcutta (1987–2006) and Editor, Seagull Theatre Quarterly (1994–2004).

List of Images
Foreword by Naseeruddin Shah
Acknowledgements

Introduction: In the End, the Beginning
Becoming Safdar: The Early Years
The Times They Were A-Changing
Campus Politics in Delhi in the Late Sixties
Safdar the Student and the IPTA Phase
Janam: The Early Years
The Emergency and Resistance
Taking It to the Streets
Machine
Street Theatre, Janam Style: The First Year
Aurat and the Women’s Movement
The Struggle against Communalism
A Decade of Growth
Towards Theatre for a Democracy

Appendix A: Machine
Appendix B: Hatyare
Appendix C: Aurat
List of References
Index