*Research Scholar, Department of Assamese, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, India
**Associate Professor, Department of Assamese, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, India
Online published on 4 February, 2015.
Badal Sircar is a leading dramatist of modern Indian drama. The exponent of absurd drama in Indian theatre, Sircar, started his career as a dramatist with his comedy Solution X (1956). His plays fall under three categories: a) the comedies, b) the serious and absurdist social plays and c) the plays written for ‘Third Theatre’. In the interest of promoting his innovative idea to come closer with the folk community, he formed a new form of theatre called ‘Third Theatre’. This form is a concoction of the folk and Proscenium theatre. He tried to reduce the distance between the drama and the audience and attempted to come closer to the folk community with his revolutionary ideas and ideologies. This attempt was an innovative attempt to establish an alternative media to disseminate ideas of the playwright more effectively to among the folk. The first phase of his attempt was the Anganmancha (theatre in the country land) where plays were performed in the open space surrounded by audience in a Hall. Later on, plays were performed either in the free (or open) stage or in the open playground or street under the sky. Apart from fifteen (15) unpublished plays designed for ‘Third Theatre’, Sircar is credited to have composed several plays for staging in ‘Third Theatre’. His published plays include: Circus (1969), Spartacus (1972), Lakshmisarar Panchali (1974), Michhil (1974), Bhoma (1976), Hattamalar Oparey (1977), Gondi (1978), Basi Khabar (1979), Ekti Hatyar Natyakotha (1980), Udyuogporva (1982), Khatmat Kring (1983), Siri (1984), and Bhool Rasta (1992). In the plays written for ‘Third Theatre’ more emphasis has been laid on content rather than form. The themes of such plays include life in its varied colours, quest for a way of life, hazards of war, history and a classless society.
