Santoshpur Anuchintan

Founded in January 2020, Santoshpur Anuchintan is a queer Dalit performing arts collective committed to creating theatre that challenges exclusion and makes space for diverse voices, identities and lived experiences. What began as a collective of young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds has grown into a vibrant community of artists, educators and young theatre practitioners.

Over the years, Santoshpur Anuchintan has created more than Forty full-length productions and presented over a hundred performances at theatre festivals and cultural platforms across India. Our artistic practice brings together contemporary theatre, indigenous performance traditions and community-based approaches, engaging with questions of caste, gender, sexuality, disability, inequality and social justice.

Our flagship productions include Debi Sitalar Sandhane, an exploration of the Sitala tradition and folk performance; Birsa Ka Jungle, an arts-integrated production centred on Birsa Munda, indigenous histories and the relationship between communities and forests; and other works that explore marginalised histories, bodies, identities and lived realities.

In 2023, the collective established Anuchintan Art Centre (AAC), a dedicated space for theatre training, performance and the exploration of diverse artistic practices. AAC provides a platform for young theatre practitioners and indigenous artists from across the country to share, learn and experiment.

Our theatre-in-education initiative, Masti Ki Pathshala (MKP), works with children and young people through three centres: the Peyerabagan Slum Centre, the Anuchintan Rural Centre at Ghasiara, and the Anuchintan Diverse Abilities Collective (ADAC) at Arogya Sandhan, where we are exploring theatre and drama-based practices with autistic and intellectually disabled individuals.

At the heart of Santoshpur Anuchintan is the belief that theatre can be a tool for empowerment, representation and transformation. We strive to create accessible and inclusive spaces where marginalised communities can tell their own stories, develop their artistic voices and participate meaningfully in cultural life.

We imagine theatre as a space where difference is not merely represented, but celebrated—and where art can become a means of building a more inclusive world.