In collaboration with Plan India, Rasdhara performed a total of four street plays in Holambi Kalan and Mangolpuri. Through these plays, we made people aware of waste segregation and their own involvement in keeping their surroundings clean and the environment healthy. We took theatre out of the hall and into the neighbourhood, because change in a community starts with the people who live there. Each performance was built to be simple and relatable, so that every person watching could see their own street, their own habits and their own role in the story.

Our plays used a story that people already know from daily life: the overflowing bin at the corner, the mixed-up household waste, the drain choked with plastic. Through characters who looked and spoke like the people in the audience, we showed what happens when wet and dry waste are thrown together, why segregating waste at home is the first step towards a cleaner locality, and how careless dumping affects the environment and everyone’s health. Instead of telling people what to do, we let them see the problem unfold in front of them, and then showed what a small change in habit can fix.

What made the plays engaging was the way we performed them. Humour, music and lively dialogue kept the crowd watching, and because the performances were staged in the open, close to the audience, people reacted, laughed and thought along with the actors. The message did not feel like a lecture, which is why it stayed with people. Residents were encouraged to see themselves as part of the solution, not as spectators of someone else’s campaign.

This work was done as a collaboration with Plan India, whose community outreach helped us reach the right neighbourhoods and audiences. Their work on the ground and our theatre came together so that a social message could reach people in a form they enjoyed and understood.