Theatre Workshop by Agai - Theatre of Voices - Adaiyalam'26 Chennai Mental Health Fest

The Theatre Workshop, facilitated by Agai – Theatre of Voices, marked the beginning of the workshop sessions at Adaiyalam 2026. The session commenced with an introduction by the emcee, followed by a warm welcome from the facilitators. Participants were first asked to set their belongings aside and spread out comfortably around the room, creating an open environment that encouraged movement, interaction, and participation.

The facilitators began with a series of icebreaker activities aimed at helping participants become comfortable with one another. Participants walked freely around the room, greeting each other with simple hello and hi exchanges. At the facilitator's cue of freeze, everyone stopped in place before transitioning into expressive warm-up exercises. Laughter quickly filled the room as participants made exaggerated facial expressions and movements, creating a relaxed atmosphere while gently introducing the principles of theatre. The event lead described this process as "de-mechanisation of the mind," explaining that theatre allows individuals to step away from routine patterns of thinking and behaviour.

Participants were then challenged to silently arrange themselves into two lines without verbal communication, encouraging teamwork through non-verbal cues. This was followed by an energetic group version of the Hunter–Rabbit–Wall (HRW) game, adapted from Rock-Paper-Scissors. Rather than playing individually, each team had only five seconds to collectively decide on one action. Interestingly, despite the large team sizes, both groups repeatedly chose the same positions, drawing laughter from everyone present while highlighting the natural synchronisation that emerged through collaboration.

The facilitators used these activities to introduce a discussion on collective decision-making. They emphasised that theatre thrives on large groups working together and challenged the commonly held belief that smaller groups always make better decisions. Instead, participants were encouraged to reflect on how human beings are inherently social and capable of functioning effectively within larger communities.

The workshop then transitioned into its central activity — a village simulation exercise. Participants were divided into five teams of ten members each, with every team representing a unique village with different strengths and resources. Each village received varying combinations of land, financial resources, governance tokens, and craft materials. Teams were instructed to assign roles among themselves based on each member's individual strengths, with participants naturally taking on responsibilities such as financial management, crafting, negotiation, coordination, and planning.

The objective was to create handmade products, such as masks or dolls, and sell them to a designated banker while simultaneously negotiating with neighbouring villages for additional resources. As the simulation unfolded, villages actively engaged in barter systems, collaborations, and financial exchanges to strengthen their economies. About fifteen minutes into the activity, two of the five villages successfully completed their first sales with the banker, while the remaining groups continued refining their strategies.

To simulate real-world unpredictability, the facilitators introduced changing market conditions midway through the exercise. The selling price of masks increased significantly, while the value of dolls declined, compelling teams to quickly reassess their production strategies. Additional challenges were then introduced through fictional crises: one village experienced a devastating forest fire, another faced a severe water shortage, and a third controlled electricity through a power plant. The exercise also featured characters such as a corporate representative who stole electricity and a social whisperer responsible for spreading rumours and creating conflict among villages.

Despite these obstacles, participants continued adapting, negotiating alliances, and supporting one another. By the end of the activity, each village had generated varying levels of revenue, reflecting different approaches to teamwork and resource management. The simulation concluded with a reflective discussion where participants identified key takeaways, including recognising loopholes within systems, understanding the value of collaboration, appreciating diverse individual strengths, and realising that meaningful outcomes can be created even with limited resources.

The workshop concluded with a broader discussion on societal structures, where the facilitators compared urban development models using examples from America, Madurai, and Chennai. Through these comparisons, participants explored how power structures, capitalism, and systemic inequalities influence communities, while also reflecting on how educational curricula often overlook conversations around caste and structural privilege.