What began at a regular team meeting of Poochu’s Productions a few months ago has turned out to be a beautiful collection of 6 stories—all by women. Shensemble is an anthology of 6 short plays by six different writers and directors. It does not stop at that. The show, curated by Dakshana Rajaram, and the team at Poochu's went a step ahead to invite an all-women crew—lights designer, sound person, photographer, and production unit.
Dakshana shares that the idea for Shensemble—an all-women show—did not come from a place of revolutionizing theatre, fighting for women’s rights or representation, or anything of that sort. “It was simply like, ‘Hey, there is more space for women, so let’s create a platform for the same. Shensemble is not essentially ‘by women, of women’, but a platform for women,” says Dakshana, adding, “We realized that we have done many different formats and anthologies, musicals, monologues, short forms, and full-length stage shows, and were discussing what is the one thing we haven’t done. That’s when the idea of extending the monologue format to two people in every play (in this anthology) struck us. As one thing led to another, we thought, why not make this anthology an all-women show to provide a platform for women in theatre to create something with absolutely no inhibitions? So, here we are, all set to bring Shensemble to you!”
As Dakshana mentioned, all 6 plays have only two cast members. The six women artists include Vinithra Menon, Shalini Vijayakumar, Bhavya Balantrapu, Meera Sitaraman, Sukanya Umesh, and Namritha Kalai Kovan, who are bringing forth some beautiful stories for the audience. While Namritha will stage Not That Complicated, Bhavya is bringing Puppet Mistress, featuring Anu Bhaskararaman and Lavanya Shankar.
Shalini’s 21 Letters, a story that she fondly reminisces about and is written by her and Nandita Lakshminarayanan, featuring Namita Krishnamurthy and Sanchita Raghunath, promises to tug at our heartstrings. Vinithra’s A Myth and a Muse Walk into a Bar features the talented, national award-winning Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli and Amrita Fredrick.
Meera’s Cocktail is a theatrical presentation of two sisters seeking closure that comes unannounced. “What might seem like a last chance to find closure brings Nalini to Mallika, and that is the crux of the play,” writer and director Meera tells us. Interestingly, when Meera penned this drama, she didn’t know what to call it. “When Bala (V Balakrishnan, founder of Theatre Nisha) read it, he suggested the play be titled Cocktail.” Meera chuckles. The story will see Preethi and Aparna play the roles of Mallika and Nalini.
Sukanya’s Purrlock & The Police, on the other hand, is a funny absurdist tragedy about the obsessive relationship between a cat and a policewoman. The play features Aeli Mammen as Miss S, the policewoman, and Nitya Sanjeev as Purrlock, the cat.
“The story is fictionalized based on a snippet of news from the year 1949 in Alencon, France. It is a true event where a cat was sentenced to be drowned by a policeman but ended up escaping while the policeman drowned. The play is a fictional take on what could have happened that led to the cat being sentenced to execution. It also deals with how codependent relationships can become obsessive and toxic,” says the writer-director. “We have never celebrated women in theatre so much. I am so glad that everything fell into place. There is no other impactful way for us to begin 2024. Shensemble is yours now,” concludes Dakshana.
Tickets at INR 500. January 6, 4 pm & 7 pm. At Medai – The Stage, Alwarpet
Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
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