Pro Public, in collaboration with CSSP Berlin, implemented the Playback Theatre (known as Chautari Natak in Nepali) facilitated EnActing Dialogue project from 2015 to 2017 and later it continued its independent implementation from 2018 to 2022 with support of Institut Für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA) Germany. Chautari Natak is an interactive theatre form inspired by improvisational theatre, storytelling traditions, and psychodrama. It relies on the audience's personal stories, incorporates music and improvised enactments, and serves as a powerful tool for individual emotional healing and social processing of the past. It was first organized in Nepali communities as part of bottom-up peace-building interventions and the promotion of social cohesion approaches. The approach of Chautari Natak has proven to be effective as a social connector in a socially and culturally diverse country like Nepal.
During Chautari Natak events, community members feel encouraged and safe to share their personal, untold, and unheard stories from their lives, including the political impacts and social transitions they have experienced. The EnActing Dialogue project was created for reconciliation and to promote social cohesion, which is a key element of peacebuilding for inter-community and inter-faith relations, addressing past issues and the growing sense of discrimination among communities and individuals. Therefore, promoting a sense of "we feeling" and a culture of collaboration is essential in the post-conflict peacebuilding process while addressing the root causes of conflict simultaneously. The project "Playback Theatre for Community Level Reconciliation in Nepal" initially focused on post-conflict reconciliation, while "EnActing Dialogue-Storytelling for the Promotion of Social Cohesion in the Communities of Nepal" focused on promoting inter-community social cohesion and harmony through storytelling. The project was implemented in the districts of Bardiya, Banke, Dang, Rupandehi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, and Udayapur to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 in Nepal.
In the first phase of the project (2015-2017), it was implemented in various locations across six districts of Nepal: Triyuga Municipality of Udayapur, Bardibas Municipality of Mahottari, Sainamaina Municipality of Rupandehi, Raptisonari Municipality of Banke, Tulsipur sub-metropolitan city of Dang, and Gulariya Municipality of Bardiya. In the second phase (from September 2018 to 2021), Pro Public implemented the project in four communities across three districts (Dhanusha, Mahottari, and Dang) with the direct support of IFA through the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. Due to the COVID-19 context, most Chautari Natak performances and outreach events were adapted and implemented virtually in an effective manner.
Initially, the project involved a mix of community representatives and ex-combatants, while in later years, it included mixed teams of Tharu-non Tharu and Madhesi-non Madheshi individuals. Additionally, the project promoted inter-community participation by intermingling teams of Dialogue Facilitating Artists (DF artists). This composition sends a message from within the team that regardless of caste, ethnicity, religion, or class, the team is committed to promoting social cohesion. The project continued to prioritize learning in this field through coordination and ongoing collaborative efforts.
The main focus of the project was to reach a broader audience for communal social cohesion through EnActing Dialogue as a tool for dialogue facilitation. DF artists demonstrated their ability to create engaging theatre spaces for sharing and overcoming pain from silenced experiences of the past and present in communities. One significant contribution of working with theatre art is that it allows audiences to connect emotionally beyond their cognitive understanding, fostering human connections across the dividing lines of inter-communities.
Following are major outcomes of the project.
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