“Theatre is a live show, cinema is not. In theatre, communication is direct; in cinema it is through images”
(Badal Sircar in his book “On Theatre”)
What comes to our mind when we hear the word theatre? We tend to think of either the conventional Western-style theatre or the rural folk form of Jatra. During the post-independence era, around 1960’s and 1970’s, a man trained in civil engineering and passionate about theatre went on to bridge the gap between these two forms, making it penetrable to every sections of the society. Born as Sudhindranath Sircar in 1925, later named as Badal Sircar, was one of the visionary and transformative figures of the Indian Theatre. The innovative contribution for which Sircar is renowned for is his pioneering development of the concept of Third Theatre. In his lifetime, he wrote about more than 50 plays. He marked a significant break from the conventional proscenium stage theatre and initiated a street theatre, which was accessible to all sections of the society.
Early Life: Humble Beginnings
Badal Sircar hailed from a middle-class Bengali family. He did his schooling from the Scottish Church Collegiate School and then went on to attend Scottish Church College, where his father was professor of the History Department. After attending the Bengal Engineering College for civil engineering, he worked as a town planner in Maithon with the Damodar Valley Corporation(DVC) in 1953, which later gave him the opportunity to go abroad. His stay in England and then in Nigeria was marked by his inner passion for theatre while also continuing his career as a town planner. Sircar’s exploration of the global aspect of theatre started in the 1950’s and 1960’s, during the period of his Europe tour. He was majorly influenced by the works of Bertolt Brecht, John Littlewood and other eminent theatre practitioners as during his stay in England he watched a series of plays from Shakespeare to Joan Littlewood productions. Initially he entered the arena of theatre as an actor, director and then shifted completely to playwriting.
Evolution of his Theatrical Career: The Shift
The career shift from being a town planner to a theatre practitioner was significant and noteworthy. He returned to Calcutta in 1967 and took up a job with the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organization, which he later gave up to completely dedicate himself to theatre in 1977. But in between these years, Sircar’s engagement with theatre and playwriting began. During his work with the DVC, he felt the utmost need to recreate the plays, as he found them overdramatic. As an actor, he participated in his own play, Bara Trishna which was performed by the theatre group Chakra in 1951.
Sircar started off with plays of light comedies and wrote four plays between the period of 1956-60, which were Ram Shyam Jadu, Baropishima, Solution X, and Shanibar. He began with humorous plays and gradually shifted to plays depicting socio-political turmoil and their influences on the society. His remarkable play Ebong Indrajit (written in 1962 and published in 1965) made him famous in the theatre world. It was an absurdist play expressing the frustration and struggles of a group of people. It was followed by other plays such as Baki Itihas, Pagla Ghoda,Tringsha Satabdi, etc., all written during his stay in Nigeria. In 1967, Sircar established his theatre group, Satabdi where,the first play that was staged was Evam Indrajit, and was at the beginning aimed at proscenium-style productions. Aparna Bhargava Dharwadkar, a noted scholar and historian, has classified the career of Sircar in two phases. The first one is intended for the proscenium stage with the theme of absurdist and existential themes. The second phase consists of avant-garde forms which include plays like, Michil, Bhoma, and Spartacus. Sircar was majorly influenced by Jerzy Grotowski’s Poor Theatre, Living Theatre of Julian Beck and Judith Malina and so on. This was the phase which led Sircar to craft a philosophy and theatre of his own, that is, the third theatre.
The Third Eye of Sircar: The Third Theatre
With the establishment of the group Satabdi, he sought to experiment with the performances, leading to his idea of a “Third Theatre”. According to him, he considered the rural folk traditional and popular forms of theatre like Jatra to be the “First Theatre”, while the Western-style proscenium style was the “Second Theatre”. Sircar envisioned to form a “Theatre of Synthesis”. He wished to remove the dichotomy between these two forms which would cater to all the people and be a medium of social change. In 1972, Spartacus was the first play written fully for the third theatre. The third theatre was conceived to emphasize on the body movements and intensified voice of the actor rather than the commercialized staging of plays, which includes bright lights, props, sets, costumes and other technical devices, placing the entire focus on the actor, audience, warm environment and non verbal sounds.
Sircar’s theatre consisted of two modes of performance: Anganmancha( courtyard stage) and Muktamancha( open stage). Anganmancha staged the performances in an intimate space ,minimizing the gap between the spectators and the actors. On the other hand, Muktamancha sought to enact the performances in open spaces like parks, college grounds, streets and villages. It is said that Satabdi took up many such tours across places to make it known and accessible to people. By coining the term “Third Theatre,” Sircar meant not only a theatrical space but also a movement and a philosophy where the communicative power of the theatre was important. The period of the 1970s was marked by a socio-political upheaval in Bengal, and Sircar realized the need to voice his opinions against the practice of oppression, unemployment, corruption, and the existential crisis of youths. According to Sircar, his theatre had certain features, which were : portability- which would ensure it to move from one place to another, inexpensiveness- where he did not incorporate the ticketing system, making it more inclusive and free of cost and lastly, flexibility- so that the theatre can be performed in any condition and place. Sircar aimed to make people aware and conscious, upholding the experiences from the grassroots level. The Bhoma, Micchil, and Basi Khabar were also some of the plays written for the third theatre.
Sircar’s plays consisted of certain themes or motifs that were written for the third theatre. They were:
1.Social Critique
The protest against the corruption and inequality was one of the recurring motifs of Sircar, as he considered theatre to be a “weapon for social change.” Plays like Bhoma, Spartacus, and Basi Khabar were instances of this. Bhoma mirrored the image of exploitation against the rural peasant class in the Sundarbans region, and Spartacus explored the theme of slavery that was prevalent in Rome.
2.The essence of Life
A quest for identity and meaning of life is another significant motif of Sircar’s plays evident in plays such as Micchil, Tringsha Satabdi, Sesh Nei and so on. Procession or Micchil explored the struggle for life and death while Sesh Nei dealt with the search for inner self of the character in a situation of political turmoil.
3. History and Memory
Sircar focused on how history helped in building an individual and a society as a whole. One of the most important play in this regard was Circus, where it dealt with the period of Independence and its socio-economic problems.
Conclusion:The Imprint that Sircar left
The innovation in theatre that Sircar created was unparalleled in the world of theatre. He was widely recognized for brilliance that won him many awards and recognition. In 1972, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India, while in 1968, he won an award for his playwriting by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Through this medium, he sought to make a more conscious community, making it a communicative medium rather than an aesthetic practice. Sircar’s idea of simplicity forms one of the core elements of his theatre. The 2022 film, Ballabhpurer Roopkotha, was an adaptation of his 1954 play.
Sircar’s revolutionary and innovative approach informs us about the society’s collective voice, where every corner of the world can be a site for storytelling. He marked a significant departure from the conventional theatre practice and abandoned the barriers of language, class, and economic inequality. He conceived the theatre to be a medium of interaction and social change. Sircar’s creativity in the field of theatre remains a timeless example of resilience and dedication.
References
1.Badal Sircar: Micchil (Theatre of the Oppressed: Augusto Boal). Accessed on September 20,2025. https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/engp09/chapter/badal-sircar-micchil-theatre-of-the-oppressed-augusto-boal/
2.Badal Sircar. Accessed on September 20,2025.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badal_Sircar
3.‘Third Theatre’: A Media Closer to the Folk. Accessed on September 20,2025. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272390146_’Third_Theatre’_A_Media_Closer_to_the_Folk
4.Rahman,Shahruk.Theatre Is a Social Tool: Badal Sircar and His Theatre.https://www.academia.edu/111120873/Theatre_Is_a_Social_Tool_Badal_Sircar_and_His_Theatre
5.Badal Sircar’s Third Theatre: Feature and Functions. Accessed on September 21,2025.https://www.galaxyimrj.com/V2/n2/Swati.pdf
6.Sitting in Badal’s Circle: Artist and pedagogue, the theatre of Badal Sircar. Accessed on September 21,2025.https://jotrowsdale.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ride-badals-circle-vol-2-1-1997.pdf
7.Bengali theatre found an unparalleled voice with the arrival of maestro Badal Sircar. Accessed on September 20,2025. https://www.getbengal.com/details/bengali-theatre-found-an-unparalleled-voice-with-the-arrival-of-maestro-badal-sircar-getbengal-story#google_vignette
8.Sircar, Badal. The Changing Language of Theatre 1982. Indian Council For Cultural Relations: Delhi.
9.Dharwedkar, Aparna Bhargava. A Poetics of Modernity. 2019. Oxford University Press: Delhi.