Performances
नज़र के सामने (Nazar ke Saamne)
Freeda Theatre Group, Maraa & Maya Krishna Rao
Experience an impactful theatrical performance, नज़र के सामने (Nazar ke Saamne) meaning Before Your Eyes. This will be followed by a discussion between the cast and acclaimed theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao.
Nazar ke Saamne is a collective expression of bodies that have endured caste and sexual violence. The performance is co-devised by members of Freeda Theatre Group, in collaboration with the arts and media collective Maraa. Journeying between childhood, youth and womanhood, the actors provoke questions around identity, freedom and justice.
The performance is centered on the body, which often goes missing in the gory sensationalism that surrounds discourse on sexual violence. An overemphasis on legal frameworks and the burden of evidence leads to residues and fractures within the body. The performance delves deeper into the relationship between memory and forgetting, notions of justice, restriction and risk, beauty and desire.
The play is woven from personal experiences, listening closely to the body to reveal beauty and violence in everyday life. Nazar ke Saamne stands in solidarity with survivors of violence whose stories are often unheard or misrepresented. It also demonstrates the potential of the arts for cross caste-class solidarity, through collaborative creation and sharing.
Performed by
– Lalita Wadiva
– Mamta Tanwar
– Sakshi Solanki
– Varsha Malviya
– Vishnu Solanki
Co Devising & Facilitation
– Anushi, Ekta and Angarika from Maraa
Lights
– Ashiwni Kumar Chakre
Set Design
– Basvachar S from Atelier Prati
Composition and Choreography
– Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy, a movement artist and dancer
Sound and Voice Assistance
– Andrea Pereira
– Apoorva Arthur
This event is conceptualised under our exhibition VISIBLE/INVISIBLE: Representation of Women in Art through the MAP Collection.
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.
Freeda Theatre
About Freeda
Freeda is an inter-generational group of women from Madhya Pradesh. Given their lived experience of caste discrimination and various forms of violence, their theatre making practice aims to create a space of dignity, freedom and self representation for women from marginalised communities.
This performance is co-devised by members of Freeda, in collaboration with Maraa.
Maraa
Maraa is a media and arts collective, founded in 2008. Rather than a thematic focus on issues, their arts and media practices are located at the intersection of gender, labour, caste and religion. Maara highlights imaginations and histories that are systematically suppressed, censored and reductively framed.
Maya Krishna Rao
Maya Krishna Rao is a theatre maker and teacher. She devises performances that range from dance theatre to comedy and cross media. Her shows have travelled to various countries and she has been commissioned to create performances for prestigious theatre festivals at home and abroad.
She has also been invited by universities and other arts related institutions across the world to teach and give online talks on her theatre making process. Maya was given the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award – a prestigious state award – for Acting in 2010 which she returned in 2015, in response to the Indian government’s indifference to rising intolerance in the country.
