Oligarchs, Jokes, and a Pinch of Democracy: An Agit-Prop

This agit-prop is a sharp, satirical theatrical performance set in a dystopian 2025 Mumbai comedy club, blending the traditions of Charlie Chaplin, Bertolt Brecht, and Dario Fo to mount a fierce critique of India’s current political and media landscape. Using the techniques of “total theatre” and “epic theatre,” the play breaks the fourth wall and demands audience engagement, creating a space where humour becomes rebellion. Anchored by Akash Banerjee’s scathing monologues and featuring an ensemble of comedians like Munawar Faruqui, Vir Das, and Kunal Kamra, alongside journalists such as Ravish Kumar and Dhruv Rathee, the performance employs alienation effects and direct address to spotlight the nexus of politics, propaganda, and profit. The stage becomes a visual battleground of symbols: a Modi impersonator lies in a hospital bed gripping a vial of sindoor, surrounded by forged degrees from “Entire Political Science” and “WhatsApp University”; demonetized ₹500 notes bear the mocking stamp “Black Money Not Found”; a Pegasus spyware phone labeled “Snoop Mode On” links to a rigged EVM; and a “Godi Media” mic is manipulated by puppets of corporate moguls. Even the audience is not spared—projected as part of the performance, they are handed placards reading “Truth is Anti-National” and “Laugh or Be Hacked,” implicating them in the spectacle. With dark comedy and biting wit, the agit-prop exposes the erosion of democracy, the complicity of the media, the surveillance state, and the stranglehold of oligarchic power, urging spectators to become participants in resistance rather than passive consumers of spectacle.