On Sunday, 9 transwomen, a part of the Aravani artwork venture, will take the stage at Rangbhoomi Spaces, Gachibowli with a play Nava. First staged in 2019, Nava tells the tales of 9 city transwomen by 9 rasas (Navarasa).
The play was the results of a workshop to discover what ‘performance’ means to a neighborhood of transwomen artistes who’ve by no means carried out on stage earlier than. Nava grew out of a collaboration between director Sharanya Ramprakash and the 9 transwomen from Aravani Art Project, over a six-month workshop . Nava is a fluid efficiency, rising with its performers, as they expertise the stage, the tales get deeper and extra intimate, discovering new floor and efficiency language.
Sharanya says, “They faced many challenges to get to the stage. First it was finding a space that would allow transwomen to come for rehearsals every day; it also had to be well connected by public transport. Then it was tough for them to show up there at a designated time, as most of them either beg or are sex workers. It was a six-months process and we had to make sure it was meaningful. The only thing that didn’t need any effort is convincing them to be on stage for a play.”
Nava on stage
| Photo Credit: Special association
In Nava, the transwomen carry their our bodies, voices and tales to reclaim their rightful place – the centrestage. The performers take the stage to broaden, problem and defy mounted notions of what constitutes the Nava rasas and who could be its Nayakis.
Artistes Veena, Chandri, Shanti, Prarthana, Jyothi, Sandhya, Swetha, Purushi and Thara share a distinct rasa. Chandri’s ‘Adbhbuta’ is about how she wore a saree for the primary time. Shanti flips our understanding of ‘Bhibatsa’ with a narrative of how she crawled by a sewage pipe to safeguard herself from the ‘normal’aspect. Prarthana tells you her secret in ‘Shrungara’, Thara makes a journey to fulfill her son and discovers ‘Karuna’, whereas Swetha explores ‘Shanta’ with the reminiscence of her childhood buddy. Performers inform tales, sing, dance, giggle, regale, provoke and problem the viewers.
Sharanya mentions that when an actor can not make it to the stage, that half is left clean. “There is no replacement as no other person can tell your story the way you do. One of the actors lost her leg, so when she was recovering, her part was left blank. She is however back on stage with a bionic leg and she is delighted about it.”
Nava can be staged at Rangbhoomi Spaces on June 26 at 5pm and seven.30pm. It will even have a pop-up store of their artwork. Tickets out there at Bookmyshow. Contact: 9700074079
Source: www.thehindu.com