It’s the Pride Month and though it’s coming to a close, there’s so much to be said, read, and heard. That’s exactly what Ticket 9 — Queer Art Festival aims to do. A first of its kind, the festival presented by Veytikaari Productions and curated by its founder Malini Jeevarathnam, endeavours to bring theatre plays that tell stories of injustices prevailing in the society; real-life accounts of celebrating queerness in the time of struggle to live by one’s true identity; voices that sing of inclusivity; albums that present a bond of love between homosexuals through its subtle poetic presentation; narrates the story of the laughter that made someone sob; and above all, a chance to be you.
Speaking to us about choosing Ticket 9 as the title of the event, Malini says, “The number 9 — onpathu in Tamil — is used as a derogatory term for the community. And I wanted to use that same number 9 with pride. Restricting someone to a number — especially number 9, considered an incomplete and odd number — because of who they are, is a prejudice, a stigma that needs to be broken. So while people may refer to some of us from the community as onpathu, we want to reverse the effect on us and carry that with pride.”
We ask them why ‘ticket’ is used before ‘9’, and Malini, who is a documentary filmmaker and a queer activist, and also identifies as gender non-conforming, explains, “9 is our ticket to pride. Hence, I chose Ticket 9!”
With the goal of celebrating queerness and discussing the importance of social justice for queer people, Ticket 9 is staging plays like director Vasanth Selvam’s A Pair of Wings I Wish For, performed by Keerthi Pandian and Maya S Krishnan, produced by Silk Route and Neelam Productions. Maya tells us that the play is about two girls talking with each other, and in the course of the conversation they begin to tell the story of how a butterfly is formed, a metaphorical reference to their own coming out. “A Pair of Wings I Wish For at its heart is a ‘coming out’ story. We have been touring with this play for over a year now and it has been humbling to see queer individuals, allies and queer parents alike find resonance with the play,” Maya says.
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This will be followed by the Kattiyakaari Theatre group’s stage performance Kadhai Kadhayaam Kaaranamam, directed and presented by queer ally, Sreejith Sundaram. The show is performed by J Surya, Gana Vimala, Aneesh, Geethanjali, and popular writer Shalin Maria Lawrence. Interestingly, the performances are based on their real-life incidents and touch upon the injustices and the discrimination the community faces at the hands of the society. Shalin tells us that she will be talking about the universality of love. “Love has no rules; it is not restricted to any gender; it knows no boundaries; why then should we put it in shackles? I am going to be speaking about my heartbreaks, but also the fact that love goes on; it’s okay to fall in love again and again, because it is love that heals.”
The event will also see singer Aarthi MN Ashwin crooning some romantic Tamil songs but with a twist. “Songs are usually written with a boy and a girl in mind. It is either ‘he’ singing to a ‘her’ or ‘she’ singing to ‘him’. So, I have changed the pronouns in the songs I am going to sing at the festival and made them queer inclusive,” says Aarthi, who has been a playback singer in the industry for a long time and believes, “We definitely need songs that are more queer-friendly.”
Further, Amor, a Malayalam music album directed by Jijo, will bring to life an enchanting love story between two men who identify themselves as homosexuals. After which, a young screenwriting team, 3 am Tea & Cigaz will present Redemption, a short film by director Prasanna.
The festival will come to a close with an intriguing panel discussion on queer lifestyle, also addressing questions from the suppressed voices.
Rs 200 onwards.
June 23. 6 pm.
At Medai – The Stage, Alwarpet.
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@rupsjain