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Being and Belongingness
Participatory theatre in the form of ritual performances, validated by myth and tradition, celebrates collective identity--whether in Tamil Nadu, Varanasi or Bavaria.
Between April and June every year, a unique ritual performance takes place in over 40 villages in northern Tamil Nadu. This is Draupadi Amman, as much a magnet for large audiences, as is The Passion of the Christ in Oberammergau, Germany, or the Ramleela of Ramnagar on the opposite bank of the Ganga in Varanasi.
Ritual performances are much more than massive religious celebrations or theatrical events since the audience is there to experience a collective—even cathartic—assertion of identity through a periodic retelling of the powerful myths that brought them into being.
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