The Streets become the Stage: Performance, Protest and Theatre in a Time of Political Crisis
Chapter 3 examines the intersection of theatrical performance and political conflict during Nepal’s 2005–2006 pro-democracy movement (Jana Andolan II). The chapter contrasts the performative apparatus used by the state to maintain autocracy with the theatrical tactics used by citizens to dismantle it.
The Theatricality of State Power A central theme is the king’s construction of a “theatre state.” Following his February 2005 coup, King Gyanendra enforced severe censorship, silencing the press and banning public assembly. This created a blank stage for his own propaganda. The regime utilized highly visible public rituals such as royal birthday parades, carefully curated billboards, and state-sponsored ceremonies, to project a “counterfeit reality” of national unity, benevolence, and control. By forcing citizens into the role of mute spectators, the state attempted to resurrect the hierarchical, divine-right rhetoric of the Panchayat era.
Banners that were installed in 2005 after the declaration of Emergency.
The Dramaturgy of Protest In response, the Nepali public engaged in a powerful “dramaturgy of protest”. The chapter highlights how street demonstrations functioned as highly aestheticized, performative acts that actively dismantled the king’s narrative. Protestors employed symbolic inversions and ritual reversals to strip the monarchy of its sacred aura. They staged mock funerals for the autocracy, burned effigies and royal portraits, paraded the king’s image on a donkey, and engaged in the subversive “renaming” of streets to erase the Shah dynasty’s historical footprint. These theatrical actions generated a powerful sense of communitas, transforming ordinary citizens into active agents who imaginatively enacted the secular, democratic reality they desired.
Performance in Purano Baneshwar during a program organized by the Citizens Movement for Democracy and Peace (2006)
Strategic Spaces and Civil Society The strategic navigation of public and private space is another central theme. Immediately after the coup, Aarohan Theatre Group exercised calculated self-censorship. By staging ostensibly apolitical plays within the enclosed compound of the Gurukul theatre school, they subtly defied the ban on public assembly while preserving a “safe”sanctuary for citizens to gather. At the same time, the Citizens’ Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP) utilized cultural programs featuring subversive poetry, progressive songs, and politically adapted traditional carols (Deusi-Bhailo), to mobilize the masses. By prioritizing artistic performance over traditional political speeches, civil society claimed an “apolitical” moral authority that resonated deeply with the public.
Singing with the Sisnupani Parivar during a Deusi program in Gurukul (2006)
Loktantrik Natak and Affective Power The chapter culminates in an analysis of loktantrik natak (theatre for democracy). The evolution of Aarohan’s street plays reflects the shifting boundaries of political danger. In January 2006, under strict autocratic rule, artists relied on veiled allegory, staging a play about Nazi Germany, to critique the regime without risking arrest. By August 2006, after the king was stripped of power, their plays shifted to sharp, direct caricatures of all political stakeholders, exposing the hypocrisy of political leaders and the UN alike. Ultimately, the chapter highlights the emotional and affective power of theatre. For the actors, performing in the streets was a deeply personal civic duty meant to “awaken” the masses, proving that aesthetic performance is a potent catalyst for real-world political transformation.
Aarohan theatre, Kathmandu, performing during the People’s Movement for Democracy and Peace programme, Nepal 2006. Video courtesy of Aarohan. This performance is described in my book.
To cite this book and read more: Rehearsing for Life. Theatre for Social Change in Nepal, Cambridge University Press (2018) available here.