“Pratham Path” is one of the best theatre groups of enthusiastic theatre activists; which perform and conduct theatre workshops on demand to develop personality and communication skills of the students/ teachers/ professional etc.
Basically we focus on nurturing creativity and cultural skills along with personality development and communication skills. At the end of the workshop the participants together produce a play and stage it with their newly gained self confidence.
It is quite possible that this may leave many questions unanswered. It will be my pleasure to furnish any additional information, which you may require for the purpose of taking further decision.
"The future of our nation depends on our ability to create-and to be creative. During the coming decades our most important national resources will be human resources. If our nation is to continue to meet the challenges of the future, today we need to develop creative leaders."
{From Performing together: The Arts and Education, jointly published by The American Association of School Administrators, The Alliance for Education and The John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in 1985.}
Dramatic Arts education is an important means of stimulating CREATIVITY IN PROBLEM SOLVING. It can CHALLENGE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS about their world and about themselves. Dramatic exploration can provide students with an outlet for emotions, thoughts, and dreams that they might not otherwise have means to express. A student can, if only for a few moments, BECOME ANOTHER, explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal choices and solutions to very real problems-problems from their own life, or problems faced by characters in literature or historical figures. This can happen in a SAFE ATMOSPHERE, where actions and consequences can be examined, discussed, and in a very real sense EXPERIENCED without the dangers and pitfalls that such experimentation would obviously lead to in the "real" world. This is perhaps the most important reason for Dramatic Arts in schools.
Still, there is far more that Drama can do. At the centre of all Drama is COMMUNICATION. Like all the arts, Drama allows students to communicate with and understand others in new ways. Perhaps more than any other art form, Drama also provides training in the very PRACTICAL aspects of communication so necessary in today's increasingly information-centred world. Students who have participated in Dramatic activities are less likely to have difficulty SPEAKING IN PUBLIC, will be more PERSUASIVE in their communications, both written and oral, will be better able to put themselves into others' shoes and relate to them, and will have a more POSITIVE, CONFIDENT SELF IMAGE. Participation in Dramatic activity requires SELF CONTROL and DISCIPLINE that will serve the student well in all aspects of life. Students in Drama will learn to WORK TOGETHER, to cooperate, to find the best way for each member of a group to contribute, and to listen to and accept the viewpoints and contributions of others. NO ART FORM IS MORE TRULY COLLABORATIVE. Drama is an important tool for preparing students to live and work in a world that is increasingly TEAM-ORIENTED rather than hierarchical.
Drama also helps students develop TOLERANCE and EMPATHY. In order to play a role competently, an actor must be able to fully inhabit another's soul. An actor must be able to really understand how the world looks through another person's eyes. This does not mean he must agree with every character. An actor can play Hitler without becoming a Nazi. But he cannot play Hitler without understanding his point of view, without empathy. In today's increasingly polarized and intolerant culture, the ability to understand others' motives and choices is critical. Drama can help build responsible global citizens.
In addition to its intrinsic educational value, Drama can REINFORCE the rest of the school curriculum. Since communication and empathy are central to Drama, a student who has explored like in the Drama classroom will be better able to UNDERSTAND IDEAS in History and Current Events. He will be able to put himself into the shoes of figures in history and literature, to UNDERSTAND THE WAY HUMAN BEINGS INTERACT. The link between Dramatic Arts and subjects such as English, History, Social Studies, and related areas is obvious. The study of literature would be impossible without Drama. There are important periods of our collective literary history in which virtually all of the surviving literature is dramatic. More importantly, Drama can be used to promote ACTIVE LEARNING in any subject-to give students a KINAESTHETIC and EMPATHETIC understanding as well as an intellectual understanding of a topic. Studies have shown again and again that this approach yields greater DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING and a marked improvement in retention. I always strive to link my Drama lessons to topics and themes my students are studying in other subjects, or to important social questions. In this way Drama accomplishes several goals at once-ENRICHING students' school experience through Art as well as REINFORCING traditional academics.
Still, there is far more that Drama can do. Because drama is COMMUNICATION:
• Drama activities improve reading, writing, listening, and speaking comprehension.
• Drama improves verbal, non-verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• Drama develops skill in thinking analytically, in acting decisively and responsibly.
• Increase and sustain the ability to concentrate and follow directions.
• Strengthen self-concept by cooperative interaction with others.
• Develop individual and group creativity for teamwork and cooperation.
• Get a platform to exchange of thoughts, self-expression, concentration, problem solving and self-discipline.
• Involvement in drama can improve students’ self-esteem as well as their confidence in their academic abilities.
• Students who are highly involved in drama demonstrate an elevated self-concept over those who are not involved.
• Unconsciously students develop curiosity to learn anything and everything because they are motivated to take challenge and cross the obstacles of life.
• Increase motivation to learn so that they learn to make commitments and fulfil them.
• And last but not the least; theatre workshop could be a great fun to bust the stress of today’s tough life.
It could be of anyone and everyone who is not enough confident and/or who wants to explore himself. It could be a student, a professional. He may be an engineer or a doctor, a coach or a teacher, a mentor or a trainer etc.
Sudhir Rana, 28, is M.A. in Broadcast Journalism. He has been in theatre since 1999. He has faced not only the audience of Delhi but also of the other cities in the country. He enriched himself through his acting in various theatre groups. He inculcated himself as an actor, director, script writer, backstage worker and other administrative assistance including technical areas such as recording/ dubbing/ editing the sound, light, set design, costumes, properties, mask-making, make-up, brochure designing etc.
Sudhir Rana worked with various well-known groups and directors from the National School of Drama as Mr. Surendra Sharma of (Rangsaptak), Mr. V.K. of (Khilona), Mr. Avtar Sahni of (Sakshi), Mr. Dinesh Khanna, (Acting Teacher of National School of Drama), IPTA Ghaziabad and Kalidas Rangshala and Kalidas children theatre association of Ghaziabad.
He has been involved as Director/ Assistant director in Children Theatre Workshops organized by Khilona and Kalidas children theatre association for last ten years in different schools of the country and doing Theatre workshops/ Annual functions and Cultural programmes for the students of school and Universities. He even takes specialized workshops for professionals like Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Army people and other government and private sectors.
Mr. Rana worked with eminent T.I.E. Co. (Theatre In Education Company) of National School of Drama during Jashnebachpan / Balsangam.
Mr. Rana has acted even in some short films and television beyond theatre and is involved in writing for News/ Ads/ Films, Serials and Radio also.
