Organized by the Yatra Arts Foundation, the Yatra Theatre Team performed a street play titled “Giramathuvassam” about water and sanitation in Saanimedu village on the 23 December 2013. Equipped with all the drama essentials including lights, a sound system, microphone, amplifiers, and portable generator, the street theatre performance started at 7 p.m. for an eager crowd of more than 400 villagers. Before Yatra’s street play, children from the village performed a short street play program and sang songs. Nineteen members of the French Vegan group attended and enjoyed the street theatre performance.
The play focused on safe drinking water and the importance of individual toilets in every village household. The theatre team explained the causes of contaminated water and stressed that open defecation causes many water-born diseases like diarrhea, cholera, jaundice, typhoid and polio in children and villagers. One of the actresses from the French Vegan group acted in the street play alongside Yatra’s theatre team. After the play, Mr. Yatra Srinivassan, the director of the Yatra Arts Foundation, interacted with the children, members of the women’s self-help group, and other villagers.
The audience thoroughly enjoyed the street theatre performance. A girl from the village spoke about the usage of toilets and importance of water. At the end of the play, the panchayat president spoke about water-born diseases, and he thanked Yatra for conducting this street play in Saanimedu village.