Navarasas, Autoethnodrama & DIY Immersive Theatre

Navarasas, Autoethnodrama & DIY Immersive Theatre is composed of two interwoven texts, each in dialogue with the other.

Part I presents a distinctive autoethnodrama, dramatizing nearly two decades of Dinesh’s experiences as a theatre maker, researcher, and educator in conflict zones. This section offers readers an interactive and experiential way to engage with Dinesh’s ideas and is aimed particularly at emerging practice-based researchers who are considering creating work in/about/within fraught contexts. Part II provides analytical, visual renderings of the evolution of Dinesh’s thinking around the five Ws—Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Drawing on her prior work in Kashmir and her ongoing engagements at San Quentin State Prison, this section of the book delves into the complexities of the researcher-practitioner experience in settings shaped by violence and trauma. By using navarasas, autoethnodrama, and DIY immersive theatre as her conceptual frameworks, Dinesh’s book serves as an interactive guide, preparing future practitioners and researchers for the profound ways in which this kind of work can leave an indelible mark on those who undertake it.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars embedded in the disciplines of Theatre and Performance Studies: performative writing, dramatic writing, performance autoethnography, or in the case of this book, autoethnodrama.

Nandita Dinesh holds a PhD in Drama from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, an MA in Performance Studies from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and a BA in Economics & Theatre from Wellesley College. She is Dean of Academic Administration at Mount Tamalpais College, maintaining and developing systems and processes that support the college’s operations inside San Quentin State Prison/Rehabilitation Center.