What happens when an applied theatre practitioner is forced to step away from the field? Can there be a form of playwriting rooted in the principles of applied theatre, yet crafted for the page? Watch scenes from Dinesh’s project Chronicles from Kashmir as you explore these questions. View the series page for all six episodes.
Introduction
Nandita Dinesh spent more than ten years making applied theatre in precarious places—until the work on the ground felt too dangerous to continue. What happens when a practitioner can no longer enter the field? Dinesh's answer is currently the exploration of applied-theatre-inspired closet dramas: an experimental approach to playwriting that is born not from an established practice but from the stubborn need to keep making despite distance. Each episode will alternate between scenes from Dinesh's project Chronicles from Kashmir and time for you to engage with the series’ companion workbook, which has been written solely for HowlRound. You will watch scenes that have been chosen for the resonance they hold with that week's workbook chapter—sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely. You watch the video. You move through that episode’s accompanying chapter. You make the connections only you can make. The workbook is released one chapter per week, with each episode running approximately thirty minutes. Beyond that, you decide if/how to carry the work forward.
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