Violence, Trauma, and the Human Psyche: A Psychosocial Reading of Vijay Tendulkar’s Stagecraft

The theatre of Vijay Tendulkar engages with the darker aspects of human behaviour, studying the ways in which violence and trauma impact social and psychological realities. This paper presents a psychosocial interpretation of the world of Vijay Tendulkar’s theatre, examining the manner in which individual suffering is inextricably linked with structural inequality, gendered power relations, and cultural conditioning. Through a close analysis of key plays—Shantata! Court Chalu Ahe, Ghashiram Kotwal, Sakharam Binder, and Kamala—the paper engages with the manner in which fear, power, and emotional dislocation are enacted as both individual experience and social phenomenon. Using the frameworks of psychological realism, trauma studies, and social critique, this paper will demonstrate that the plays of Vijay Tendulkar function as a mirror to human vulnerability, laying bare the fragile psyche in conditions of coercion and inequality. Keywords: Vijay Tendulkar; Psychosocial Criticism; Violence and Trauma; Gendered Oppression; Power and Domination; Indian Modern Theatre