Rustom Bharucha Knihy

Delving into the social and political dynamics, the book examines how contemporary theatre interacts with and reflects emergent cultural practices. It highlights the intersections between performance and societal issues, offering insights into how theatre serves as a platform for dialogue and change in the modern world. Through various case studies, it reveals the transformative potential of theatre in addressing contemporary challenges and shaping cultural discourse.

Rustom Bharucha presents a thought-provoking investigation into the complex relationship between terror and performance, challenging conventional views that equate 'terror' with 'terrorism.' The book explores diverse narratives and epistemologies surrounding human cruelties, highlighting instances of war, genocide, and ethnic violence across various regions, including India, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, and Palestine. By offering a non-Eurocentric perspective, it seeks to deepen the understanding of these critical issues in the global South.

Lessons in resilience in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India. Focusing on the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India between April and December 2021, Rustom Bharucha's timely essay reflects on four interconnected realities that haunted this ongoing crisis--death, grief, mourning, and extinction. How do we cope with multiple deaths and the dislocation of rituals when the act of mourning is either postponed or denied? What roles do political surveillance, censorship, the regulation of lockdowns, and the sheer indifference to the lives of people play in the containment of civil liberties? Through vivid examples of photography, theater, dance, visual arts, and the cultures of everyday life, this meditative essay illuminates both the horror of the pandemic as well as its unexpected intimacies and revelations of shared suffering. Against the destruction of nature and the disrespect for the nonhuman, The Second Wave offers lessons in resilience through its reflections on the ethos of waiting and the need to re-envision breath as a vital resource of self-renewal and resistance.