When Bimbadhar Gouda stepped onto the stage last November in a small town in Odisha, his portrayal of a demon in a retelling of the Ramayana took a shocking turn that would echo across India.
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As the audience watched, he tore open the skin of a live pig hanging in front of him and consumed its raw meat. A video of the visceral act went viral, sparking outrage among animal rights activists and igniting a national debate about the state of Indian street theatre.
Gouda and one of the organisers were swiftly arrested under animal protection laws. The performance, which also featured live snakes, was condemned by many as a grotesque attempt to captivate an audience and an indictment of the extreme measures some street performers now take to stay relevant in a changing cultural landscape.
“Street plays are the most straightforward artistic revolutionary part of the theatre form,” said Manjul Bhardwaj, a well-known theatre actor and director who performs across India and abroad.
“I am an artist and I don’t believe in any kind of violence. That is one value I hold in high regard. Second, those who have done this in Odisha, I condemn that. Neither is it an art form, nor should it be considered street theatre,” he said.
For some performers, avoiding pushing boundaries to capture attention is not always an option. A street artist from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, who has been performing for over a decade, told This Week in Asia that he was routinely forced to engage in extreme acts, such as self-flogging and fire performances, just to keep his audience intrigued.