When a message is acted out...

INDIA HAS the second largest HIV/AIDS population in the world. There are 3.7 million HIV positive cases in the country. In many cities, one in 50 pregnant women tests positive for HIV/AIDS. Two per cent of the population of Tamil Nadu is affected with AIDS - more than 12 lakh people, with the number rising steadily. Impersonal statistics leave no impact. Whether published in newspapers or flashed across TV screens, no personal connection is made with the message.

A play makes the vital connection especially when enacted amidst the viewers with no proscenium to distance them from the action and when it deals with matters that affect their daily lives - education, health and social practices. This interactive quality is what gives street theatre its strength. Set in the local milieu, it features characters we meet every day and discusses issues that can make a difference - sometimes the difference between life and death as in the case of AIDS.

The AIDS Prevention and Control Project (APAC), has, therefore, chosen street theatre to propagate awareness about HIV/AIDS and promote safer sexual practices. The APAC, a unit of the Voluntary Health Services (VHS), Chennai, gets financial assistance from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), under a bilateral agreement with the Government of India. APAC has been organising the street play programme with the project proposal being formalised with the help of the State Resource Centre.

The ongoing project will cover 43 towns and cities in the State, and leading NGOs with rich experience in traditional folk media have been identified in various districts to train volunteers in street theatre. The Centre for Social Reconstruction, Nagercoil, the Mass Action Group for Social Welfare, Madurai and the Koothu- p-pattarai, Chennai, are the three organisations chosen for the programme.

Experts from these groups train representatives of NGOs involved in AIDS prevention work. They, in turn, impart training to groups in their areas to perform street plays at vantage points - bus stands, street corners and market places. One such workshop was conducted by the Koothu-p-pattarai some time ago in Chennai at the Dhyana Ashramam at Santhome. The volunteers trained by the repertory have been holding plays at various places, with one group performing at Nanganallur recently and another at Arani.

At the Koothu-p-pattarai workshop, the NGO representatives learnt the nuances of communication from veterans of the repertory. As project coordinator Sundar gave the orders, the members walked around in a circle, froze, made eye contact and learnt body language and voice control.

Says N. Muthuswamy, founder-director of the Koothu-p-pattarai repertory, "We wish to spread theatre consciousness among the people and use the theatre for socially relevant causes. Our involvement with this project stems from our desire to help the volunteers develop theatre skills and convey the message in an effective and aesthetic fashion."

A. Sivan, Programme Associate in charge of Communication, APAC, says, "We used the Koothu-p-pattarai to propagate the message of family welfare some years ago. The programme was a success for they take the concept from us and develop the project from ground realities. So we chose the group again as they use traditional forms of theatre such as Theru-k-koothu in their productions to convey contemporary themes. This appeals to audiences in both the urban and rural areas."

Scripts for the plays on HIV/AIDS evolved from a writers' workshop conducted by APAC earlier. The writers who participated interacted with resource persons who had worked in the field of prevention of AIDS. Eleven scripts on a range of subjects from the concept of hygiene and the question of morality to the adoption of preventive measures and the symptoms and spread of the disease were finally selected. Six motivational songs were also chosen. Adapted to folk music and interspersed at appropriate places in the script, they help drive home the message.

Three to five plays are generally put up on a single evening and a variety of other folk performing arts such as Thevarattam, Karagattam, Kolattam and puppetry are featured between the plays so that the audience's interest does not flag. During the performance, questions are posed to the audience to gauge how well the message has been understood.

The 43 priority areas for holding the plays were identified taking many factors into consideration, says Sivan. These include the density of the population the concentration of industries and markets as also highways and tourist areas where sexual activity is high. Intervention work was done among sex workers and truck drivers, he adds.

A structured questionnaire distributed the day after the performance elicits information on efficacy of message, dialogue delivery, script and choreography. Each play is modified repeatedly to obtain the maximum results. At least 20 performances of the same play are held, four or five a month, at the same city to reach out to the largest number.

The reactions have been varied and interesting. "Our mothers-in- law turn a blind eye to our husband's affairs. Are they not to blame for aiding them fall victim to the disease?", asks a group of women angrily after a performance in a village near Chennai. "I'll bring my teenage daughter to the play next week. She needs to see it," says a middle aged woman."

Behavioural change is yet to come about, says Sivan. "But awareness is being generated. An impressive 93.12 per cent of the total number of viewers claimed to have gained awareness through the plays while a good 86.84 per cent agreed to follow the preventive measures."

KAUSALYA SANTHANAM

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