Munia Murmu, 42, believes theatre has empowered her tremendously to address systemic, social issues of domestic violence and gender discrimination in her village. We speak to her about the transformative potential theatre holds for many women like her in Bihar and the rest of India.
Munia Murmu: Theatre’s impact on my life has been extraordinary. The change I wanted to achieve in society through theatre started with me. Initially some in my family and outside did object to my doing theatre. But I thought to myself – what’s really bad about stepping outside, performing and interacting?
I started telling my family that to move forward in life I will have to stop caring about what others thought.
I was also extremely scared and shy at the beginning. But when we started doing plays we received very good feedback. Soon everyone – all men and women – in the village started appreciating what we were doing.
This gave me immense confidence. Slowly I felt my fear leave. Soon I started thinking more creatively about scripting the stories and how to tell them.
Munia Murmu: Being a victim of violence myself and seeing how prevalent domestic violence was in my village, pushed me towards taking up theatre. With help from PRADAN we got training for theatre and storytelling. There were two groups in the beginning with six members each.
We started making skits and plays addressing issues of gender discrimination, domestic violence and digital literacy. PRADAN also trained us on these subjects. We assessed all the social issues that needed to be addressed immediately through awareness.
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PRADAN’s intervention felt like an unmissable opportunity. This was going to be my shot at addressing some of the issues I saw around myself – in my family and my village.
Munia Murmu: Yes, these are sensitive topics. But we knew we had to speak about this. We used the ‘theatre of the oppressed’ (TO) method which turned out to be very useful. We would pause in the middle of a play to give the audience an opportunity to come on stage and speak about their experiences. This method gives everyone an opportunity to participate.
Initially there was extreme hesitancy. But slowly women started speaking up about domestic violence and offering support to each other.
We design and execute plays keeping in mind the people and their lives in the village. We write plays reflecting on our life experiences. More women have started to join our group and participate and ask questions confidently.
Munia Murmu: We encourage men in the village to participate, especially when it relates to gender discrimination and digital literacy. We are starting to see men become more proactive in their participation now. They ask questions, engage and make use of the TO format.
While not all men from the village come to watch plays on domestic violence, there are some who come and encourage us. They also acknowledge the violence and systemic injustice women face.
Let me tell you about Madhu didi who is also a member of our theatre group. She did not conceive even long after her marriage. Her husband wanted to leave her for this reason and remarry. At this point we intervened and addressed this issue sensitively through a play.
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We also supported her through this difficult phase and encouraged Madhu and her husband to talk to each other openly. Now they are living together in harmony.
Munia Murmu: A girl child is treated very differently from a boy child in an Indian household. Besides doing all the household chores, girls are not allowed to step outside or talk to strangers. But boys can play outdoors and be wherever they want to be. Often a girl is denied education. They don’t have the same freedom and opportunities.
Our village was no different. This was one of the first issues in 2016 we drew everyone’s attention to. Through our stories we told them about the importance of educating girls. Changing deep rooted attitudes takes time but I can already see a shift.
During COVID pandemic when the vaccination drive started, a lot of families were skeptical. There were rumours about how the COVID vaccine could potentially cause death. We used multiple plays to bust myths about vaccination. Later everyone started to approach health centres voluntarily to get their shots.
In the lead image Munia Murmu and others perform a play on the issue of domestic violence (Photo courtesy PRADAN).
