Theatre for Re-Education: Experimenting with Documentary Form in Kerala

This paper is a study of a Malayalam documentary play "Not Just the Victims" staged by Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre Trivandrum. Along with analyzing the documentary method of the play this study looks at how the theatre group employed the play for "re-educating" the people regarding certain existing norms. The play initiates a discourse in theatre regarding various atrocities happening against woman and children in society. The need for re-educating our parents and educational institutions regarding their out-dated techniques in nurturing woman and children as well as male counterparts is highlighted in this study. Also, the paper investigates how traumatic narratives of victims could make a greater impact on the audience for a change in their attitudes.