RANG VIDUSHAK

Rang Vidushak was born in 1984 from the ideas of Bansi Kaul and his team of artistes. They were dedicated to developing a different form of theatre where laughter would be the new celebrative language. Here the vidushak... the fool or jester... ruled. His wit flowed from folk and tribal expression; from ritual and song; from myth and folklore; and from games, jokes and riddles.
Rang Vidushak was formally established as a theatre organization in Bhopal during 1989. It finds its strength on the study, analysis and documentation of indigenous performing and non-performing art forms spread across India. Color, humor and laughter have lent Rang Vidushak its extraordinary distinctiveness. Over the last four decades the organization has been a space for fostering new theatrical practices. It has become the reason to fuse the creative energies of both writers and performing artistes. Bansi Kaul, the group's Founding Director, documented the work-processes of acrobats, indigenous martial artists, and the ways of the  storytellers to develop a one of its kind actor-training methodology. Its performative character is unique and Rang Vidushak stands strong on this methodology. 

At RANG VIDUSHAK, we believe that the performing arts have the power to transform lives. We strive to create a supportive and inclusive environment, where the actor-students can explore their creativity, build confidence, and connect with the community in general.

 Rang Vidushak's actor-training processes have been complemented by work on developing new scripts, based on a wide range of literary sources - Indian, Turkish, Chinese, Russian, and Singaporean. Furthermore, the actors have been encouraged to write and direct short plays on their own. The main objective has always been to ensure that the group's theatre methodology penetrates small towns and cities in the Hindi- as well as non-Hindi speaking regions. The core group of actors has at all times been mobilized to organize theatre training workshops, festivals and tours wherever possible. This has become a medium to spread the group's philosophy and kind of work in as many places as possible. The aim has always been to inculcate a serious attitude to theatre work, and identify new talent. Movement, speech, music, stage design, lighting, literature and poetry have been basic to these intensive theatre training workshops. Poets and playwrights have been part of these workshops for the purpose of writing plays and songs for the vidushak, keeping in view the actors' training methodology and the group's basic philosophy. Rang Vidushak considers theatre as an act that goes beyond staging the scene of a play. It recognizes theatre as an enormous canvas where performance of text, poetry, narration interwoven with song, rhythm and movement become the very base of culture studies, linguistic interpretation, geographic diversity and social history.