“Maybe probably the most troublesome query that we’re endlessly left to grapple with,” begins veteran theatre artiste A. Mangai, thoughtfully pausing earlier than persevering with, “is tips on how to finish a conflict.” Mangai made this remark simply earlier than a preview of her new manufacturing, Stree Parvam (The Ladies), being offered in collaboration with the MS Swaminathan Analysis Basis in reminiscence of educationist Mina Swaminathan, who was obsessed with theatre. The time period ‘stree parvam’ is from the Mahabharata, the 11th of the 18 books on the epic, stree parva is concerning the grief of girls over conflict and its losses.
Watching the rehearsal of Mangai’s 65-minute manufacturing, a gripping and haunting portrayal, it turned practically unattainable to not envision conflict as an expansive, chilling blanket spanning epochs and tightening across the neck of humanity. From the traditional battlefields of the Mahabharata to the trendy conflicts in Gaza and Eelam, the spectre of conflict looms giant. But, when the clamour of battle fades and the mud settles, what endures are the tears of girls. These tears, heavy with unstated grief, add a poignant layer to the material of human historical past.
“Stree Parvam is an try to have a look at conflict from a gendered lens,” says Mangai. The play opens with Gandhari and Kunti stepping onto the battlefield, the place they confront the harrowing sight of numerous our bodies scattered round. As they seek for their very own family members among the many useless, they’re struck by the overwhelming scale of loss and the transient nature of life.
“However this horror was not wrought by pure forces,” the refrain reminds Gandhari, unconvinced by her assertions that she had issued ample warnings. As a substitute, they recount the indiscriminate killings that stained the battlefield: Aravan, Abhimanyu, Drona, Karna, and the notorious midnight bloodbath by Ashwathama.
The narrative fluidly shifts among the many Mahabharata, Gaza, and Ukraine.
| Photograph Credit score:
Mohan Das Vadakara
Within the midnight when individuals drift into sleep, getting into the realm between desires and hope, they quickly get up to the realities of conflict — because the play transitions to the on a regular basis bloodbath that unfolds in our dwelling rooms from Gaza.
The narrative then fluidly shifts among the many Mahabharata, Gaza, and Ukraine, usually relating Sri Lanka, to painting a gendered perspective on how desires are killed and hopes massacred. As the 2 ladies — Kunti and Gandhari — lastly confess and acknowledge their guilt and grief, a ray of chance illuminates their path. The refrain then performs the customary rituals, wishing for peace and concord to prevail.
The play concludes with a haunting poem by Vallalar:
Karunai ila atchi kadugi ozhiga
Arul nayandha nanmarkkar alga
Nallor ninaitha nalam peruga
Ninaindhu ellorum vazhga isaindhu
(Might the unkind rule come to an finish. Might the compassionate ones rule. Might the nice ones have their desires fulfilled. Might everybody assume good and stay in concord).
Mangai describes the play as a “small gesture of solidarity with the individuals dwelling in nations which are/have been below siege.” The play begins with Gandhari and Kunti holding palms and eventually embracing one another. Mangai deeply believes that this reconciliation will need to have occurred when Kunti selected to hitch Gandhari and Dhritarashtra on their vanaprastha. For Mangai, this represents a type of feminist affective solidarity that recognises deep-seated guilt and endeavours to forgive. “It is probably not simple, however price making an attempt.”
The theme of conflict runs deeply in Mangai’s physique of labor
In her work, Mangai employs varied parts to dehumanise conflict. A central image is the omnipresent white fabric, representing “life, earth, and the universe that we maintain expensive and are duty-bound to guard for the subsequent technology,” says Mangai. The music within the play transitions from the fervent beats of Koothu to a mushy Arabic lullaby, and eventually to a high-energy rap. Concurrently, a display screen shows pictures of conflict from world wide, showcasing each the devastation and the resistance towards it, emphasising the human price, which has been decreased to mere numbers.
For the transition from the state of sleep to the realm of desires, Mangai included a three-minute movie by Tara Hakim, a Palestinian artist residing in Jordan. This movie options acquainted pictures, like a grandmother tenderly grooming her grandchildren’s hair and kites hovering within the sky. Mangai says she particularly requested Tara’s movie to be built-in at this pivotal second . Upon viewing rehearsal footage, Tara chosen a tune to accompany her movie, making certain that the shift from the Mahabharata narrative to the dream sequence was not solely conveyed visually but in addition by evocative music.
The play makes an attempt to dehumanise conflict
| Photograph Credit score:
Mohan Das Vadakara
The play revisits the Mahabharata earlier than transferring to the conflict in Ukraine. The textual content for this section was crafted by Yana Salakhova, a practitioner of Theatre of the Oppressed in Ukraine. This portion poignantly explores the experiences of motherhood amidst battle . Salakhova’s phrases give voice to the advanced feelings and dilemmas confronted by moms . “She referred to as it the opening up of the area for the injuries to blow up” says Mangai recalling her interplay with Yana.
The play begins with pictures from Sri Lanka by feminist activist Sarala Emmaneul. Mangai juxtaposes these visuals with work by the famend artist Trotsky Marudhu.
The theme of conflict runs deeply in Mangai’s physique of labor — Stree Parvam will not be her first mess around conflict. “This time, Gaza triggered it, I assume,” says Mangai says. “It was like reliving the trauma that we had already confronted, in Sri Lanka. Additionally, I felt a way of urgency. Contemplating the instances we live in, something anti-war ought to be spoken about instantly.”
However what really resonates is the inclusion of poetry in the direction of the tip of the play. Together with the verses of Sri Lankan Tamil poets Nuhman and Puduvai Rathnadurai, the play options the profoundly transferring poem ‘If I need to die, let or not it’s a story,’ penned by Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, who tragically misplaced his life in an Israeli airstrike final yr.
Says Mangai, “There is a component of story in each poem — the tales should survive. It’s our technique of clinging to hope, even within the face of profound despair.”
The play will likely be staged at Asian Faculty of Journalism on April 6 and seven.
