Dramatherapy

DramatherapyExperience Sharing by Vardhan DeshpandeSaturday, 28th November, 3.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m.About the SessionIn this session, Vardhan Deshpande reflects on his journey with Dramatherapy and its possibilities as a practice of healing, expression and transformation.Over the past two-and-a-half years, he has been working with children at risk through Dramatherapy sessions, alongside six months of work with specially-abled children. This journey has involved much more than conducting sessions — it has been a continuous process of observing, designing, planning, facilitating, implementing, documenting and reflecting. Each group and every individual encounter has shaped his understanding of how theatre, play, imagination, embodiment, storytelling and creative expression can create spaces for children to explore themselves, connect with others and experience agency.The session will share key experiences from this practice: the challenges encountered, the learning that emerged, the questions that continue to remain, and the ways in which reflection has influenced subsequent interventions. It will also look towards the future — considering how Dramatherapy and Applied Theatre can evolve in working with children and communities, and the ethical, creative and contextual sensitivities that such practice demands.About the SpeakerVardhan DeshpandeVardhan Deshpande works as a theatre facilitator in schools and colleges. He also works as a storyteller-actor-director for children's plays and conducts theatre workshops for children and adults. Since March 2024, he has also worked as a theatre facilitator for juveniles in the Child Welfare Committee, Pune, with the NGO - 'Foundation for Child Protection - Muskaan'. This committee acts as a crucial safety net for vulnerable children, providing them with the care, protection and support they need to thrive. He has been a visiting faculty for theatre at COEP Technological University (College of Engineering, Pune), NICMAR University, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and FLAME University, among others.Vardhan has formally trained as an engineer in Information Technology (B.Tech) from COEP and, after a brief professional stint in that field, he trained in theatre, getting a Master’s degree from the Centre for Performing Arts, Lalit Kala Kendra, SPPU. He is a recipient of the 'Goshtarang' Fellowship from QUEST (Quality Education Support Trust).About the FestivalPLAYINTERPLAY is a theatre festival with a difference. It celebrates 50 years of the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, bringing together its theatre awardees and scholars to show their work, share their experiences, skills and learnings, and converse on matters of common interest.PLAYINTERPLAY presents plays that are new to Bengaluru. What is different, however, is that it looks back as well as forward, featuring a work of theatre that has been specially revived for the festival and readings of plays that are still to become the finished article.PLAYINTERPLAY does more: it forges connections between its constituent parts — performances, workshops, conversations and experience sharing — emphasising the interplay between thought, learning and practice.See the plays! Apply for the workshops! Join the conversations! Soak in the magic of theatre.About the Artistic DirectorAnmol Vellani is the founder and former executive director of India Foundation for the Arts, the first independent philanthropic organisation in India devoted exclusively to supporting the arts. He is also the co-founder of Toto Funds the Arts, which nurtures, encourages and rewards new voices and emerging talent in the arts.Anmol did not, however, aspire to become a professional in the field of philanthropy. His early fascination was with the arts, especially theatre and music, and also philosophy, which he studied at the Universities of Poona, Oxford and Cambridge. He taught ethics, logic and the history of philosophy at Elphinstone College, Mumbai, in the 1970s,His writing and talks — on arts entrepreneurship, the creative economy, cultural policy, the role of grant-making foundations, culture and development, arts collaboration and the performing arts, for example — have reflected on the insights he has gleaned from his long engagement with the arts and philanthropy.Anmol has been associated with nearly 50 plays as a director, designer or actor. He has directed theatre productions in different languages and cities. His last two plays — Innocence (2024) and Apne Ghar Jaisa (2022) — have been lauded for their sharp and critical look at contemporary social and political realities in India.