Art, he said, opens people's eyes, makes people think and act in a new positive way. By staging plays in the villages, community leaders can no longer turn a blind eye. Mr Charan staged his first play in 1995. Entitled Kid Huan Kum Nuen, meaning Reflections, it discussed the plight of factory workers suffering from work-related diseases. He said the play was based on reality.
Many teenagers leave their villages to work in factories.
Many fall ill due to poor working conditions or become physically handicapped after industrial accidents. Mr Charan said researching reality provided the inspiration for his plays and he undertakes frequent field visits on which he conducts in-depth interviews with villagers. It often takes more than six months to get a grasp of a situation, he said. As an outsider, it's not easy to get to the heart of a problem quickly. Or to get a well-rounded perspective of a situation.