Nukkad Rang Mela Madhava Prasad HPART FROM folk theatre performed in the open, modern street theatre, which is still in its youth, is the only theatre accessible to all strata of people. Modern street theatre groups have of late sprung up all over the country, in big cities as well as small towns. About twenty such groups participated at the Nukkad Rang Mela*at Bhopal. Street theatre is usually done by amateurs, though some practitioners of the form have achieved professional competence through experience. The actors are normally students, teachers, workers and members of political parties or youth organizations. They are untrained and are trying to use the medium of theatre for a cause. Some of them involve themselves in civil rights movements. Only a few do street theatre full time. Most of them are engaged in theatre activity in their free time and operate mainly from an urban base, though they also travel to villages bordering their cities or towns. Though the dominant preoccupation in street plays is political satire, it cannot be said that all such groups work with an ideological perspective. Most of the activity is really regarded as a form of social work, its aims varying from revolution to being a sort of newspaper for the illiterate. The groups try to achieve these aims through an art form. But not many groups have trained actors. In fact, only a few actors in these groups have even seen good, professional theatre, since they are based in small towns. Most of them act as best as they can, concentrat-•A street theatre festival-cum-workshop at Bharat Bhavan. Bhopal, February, 1983.