Deepening the practice—Beyond Jokering (TOTO)
7th to 11th November, 2025
Background
Theatre of the Oppressed (TOTO) is a praxis based on the political views of equality and democratic processes. Across the world, different movements, communities, and organizations have used it for initiating sociocultural shifts. Real, vital, and inclusive dialogues are crucial aspects of enduring democracies, in the present and in the future too. TOTO, both as an approach and a technique, facilitates a shift in behavior and perception of individuals and collectives, enabling greater ownership and a hands-on approach to validate and support diverse dialogues. The Theatre of the Oppressed practice deeply respects the intellectual faculty of people and therefore has the potential to portray oppression and change the story.
From our TOTO practice
Sambhaavnaa has been organizing a multi-level program called Jokering Justice under the praxis of theater of the oppressed, where we deep dive into the tools of TOTO as well as the philosophy of the pedagogy of the oppressed. The proposed workshop is planned as a standalone to deepen the understanding of Jokering and working with symbols.
About the workshop
This workshop is a standalone workshop on the theatre of the oppressed. The focus of this workshop is on people who have had some level of exposure to the praxis of TOTO. This exposure may include the introductory-level workshop at Sambhaavnaa Institute or at any other place. In addition to this, this workshop will be useful for people who already have some experience practicing TOTO in their respective fields, with the intention of working on creating dialogic cultures with a deeper understanding of Jokering and the use of symbols.
A. More on jokering
Toto is essentially about jokering, not only the assigned joker but also the oppressor, and every actor is a joker in the sense that the forum is to create a space for practicing dialogue. Jokering is a lot more than asking questions and getting the spectators to the stage; it is about deep listening, confronting, building consensus, being present, handling conflicts, and much more.
The two days out of 5 focus on the core skills and attributes we need to develop and practice to become more effective and empathetic Jokers.
- Core areas—conflicts and confronting with empathy
- Deep listening and emergent listening
- Dialogue and consensus building
- Facilitating games
- Self-care and healing
B. Symbols play a significant role in building the visual import in TOTO, but it is a much-neglected aspect, especially in the Indian context. Creating symbols of oppression as well as building scenography that helps heighten the impact, lessen ambiguities, and provide stimulus for response can be challenging and satisfying.
In the rest of the two and a half days, we will work with different materials and scripts to create symbols and scenography for furthering the narrative of oppression.
Core area
- Improvising and brainstorming on symbols
- Craft of building symbols—tactile, color-based work
- Generating ideas for scenography and creating the same
- Exercises for working with such symbols and scenes
About the facilitators
Jaya Iyer has been associated with various aspects of social development for over three decades. An awardee of many prestigious fellowships, Jaya is also a recipient of the UNESCO Aschberg Bursary to study the Theatre of the Oppressed with Augusto Boal. As a theater professional, she has developed and staged over 20 major productions and around 1000 studio, street, and community performances. Her productions have won the prestigious Sahitya Kala Parishad “Best Play of the Year” and have been showcased at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Urdu theatre festival, Sriram Summer Festival, the Theatre for Truth Festival etc.
Jaya was CEO of Pravah and led the process to set up the National Centre for Children and Youth in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. She has been a guest faculty in Bachelor of Elementary Education, TIE, National Museum Institute, and Disom School of Leadership. Jaya has designed and led various public campaigns around seed sovereignty, child rights, gender-based violence, anti-plastic movements, and proactive peacebuilding.
Zubair Idrisi has been a theater practitioner for more than fifteen years. His area of interest lies in working around the transformative power of theater in influencing social change. He specializes in theater-based training and facilitation of workshops at the individual, community, and organizational levels. He has extensive experience in project design and coordination with a focus on youth- and gender-oriented programs. He has designed and executed various social campaigns as well, each addressing a specific cause or an issue. His work with Pradan between 2017 and 2019 involved campaigns around gender-based violence, PDS distribution, and the right to vote. Zubair has worked with multiple non-government, government, and private organizations, along with students and teachers belonging to educational institutions as well. These include UNICEF, Greenpeace, JAGORI, Sangat, PCI, Teen Murti Bhawan, Nehru Learning Centre for Children and Youth, and the Government of India headquarters in New Delhi.
Participant Contribution
We hope that participants will contribute an amount of Rs. 5000/- towards workshop expenses, inclusive of all on-site workshop costs: boarding, lodging, and all the materials used in the workshop.Travel of participants will have to be borne by the organization/the participants.
Do not let money be an impediment to your application. Need-based fee waivers are available. We have a limited number of scholarships, so please apply for a fee waiver if you really need it. Do remember that there may be others who need it more than you. Fee waivers will be offered to people from marginalized groups and non-funded social, political, or student movements.
Dates and Venue: 7th to 11th November 2025, Sambhaavnaa Institute, VPO Kandbari, Tehsil Palampur, District Kangra, PIN 176061, Himachal Pradesh.
How to reach: Please visit Getting to Sambhaavnaa
For any other info: WhatsApp or call: 889 422 7954 (between 10 am to 5 pm), and e-mail [email protected].