Nireeksha - A Theatre for Women

Submitted by bhawani on Sat, 2007-06-09 12:53. Kerala_Literature

Do women need a special space for theatre? Is there a space for women’s theatre? The answer is in the affirmative for C V Sudhi and Rajarajeswari who have been singlemindedly pursuing a dream - a total theatre “by women, of women, and for women.”

Sustaining the momentum in such situations is not an easy task but over a decade of low profile but consistent exercises to carve out a ‘place of their own’ has been the thrust of this duo. In Sudhi’s words, “Women have always been actors on stage, but where are the directors the scriptwriters, the designers, the lighting experts?” It is only natural that even if one was interested very early in life in the technical aspects of the architecture of the performance space, a girl just would not be able to involve herself the totality of a theatre production, because there were unwritten social restrictions that kept her a few paces behind.

These are thoughts that have dominated Raji’s and Sudhi’s minds. They have steered the course of their theatre through the rough and tumble and finally found a niche. Organising workshops, creating venues for increased interaction among women they formed Nireeksha as a forum for expression. Theatre workshops among children, the tribals of Attapadi and a children’s film-Koodaram are among the activities they have been engaged in.

This May between the 15 and 24 Nireeksha held a “Women’s Technical Workshop” which had as Resource Person V Ramamurthy (an NSD alumnus) the well known theatre designer guiding 15 theatre enthusiasts. The Workshop saw the participants getting inputs on aspects of theatre that had more to do with the production rather than acting. Costumes, lighting. Stage sets etc are aspects that normally women have to depend on contributions from the men, but if the expertise is available to well trained women the, says Sudhi, “We will in the final stage have an independent women’s group which will handle all the aspects of the production. In such a group it will be easier to create a performance piece which voices the woman’s aspirations and reflects her ways of looking at things.”

Masks, puppets, models of sets based on The Zoo Story made by the group during the Workshop is proof of the learning experience derived by the participants and for the two people who are the driving force behind Nireeksha, it is a shot in the arm, a positive stroke that will encourage them to move on.
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