‘Women’s Monologue’, taking place this weekend in Chennai, aims to explore women’s perspectives through six exciting stories

Every voice has a story and vice versa. When it comes to Chennai’s theatre scene, stories form the heart of every performance, and one show that has stood out recently is the Monologue series curated by Shakira Mukthar. The show returns with an ensemble of an all-women line-up this weekend and is dubbed, Women’s Monologue. This line-up promises an exciting night with terrific one-person plays presenting unique stories and characters that highlight women’s resilience, strength, and empowerment. We have a quick chat with all of the performing artistes and learn from them about what’s in store, how this storytelling format elevates their performance and which aspect of their character(s) has struck a chord with them.

Aishwarya M, a Bharatanatyam dancer and theatre artiste, will unveil her monologue called Thee Pochu. This show will be a personal reflection of Aishwarya, a mother herself. “Thee Pochu revolves around the emotions that a mother experiences as her daughter grows up. It reflects on some pleasant and some not-so-pleasant moments, and everything in between. She experiences joy, disappointment, inability and pity. It is a play from the perspective of a mother,” she says, describing the premise.

For Aishwarya, presenting the story as a monologue made it easier, as the production costs were minimal and she could coordinate rehearsals herself. However, she presents that caution must be exercised if a theatre artiste chooses such a type of narration for the stage. “While enacting different characters, one should be cautious while differentiating between them to make it clear for the audience to understand,” she highlights.

With the thriller plot of A tutorial to be pretty enough, Sadaf Afreen Mondal explores the experiences of a schizophrenic woman who encounters a horrific turn of events as she performs a makeup tutorial. “It touches upon the themes of problematic beauty standards. It also portrays how, besides having a mental disorder, such issues have been internalised by the woman,” she highlights.

She further reveals that her observations of a close relative who is diagnosed with schizophrenia have also factored into her preparation for this role. The monologue, which is written and directed by Sadaf, also aims to demystify claims like ‘mental health issues are only faced by a certain social class’.

A dancer and theatre artiste, Rishika Srinivasan will present Oru Poongavanam. The premise explores the themes of truth, death, friendship, companionship and acceptance of fate. Being confined to a jail, this woman’s journey and the challenges are the driving force behind the progression of this story.

Although Rishika doesn’t relate to the character as much due to her darker nature and detachment from emotions, she is excited for the audience to experience what the woman develops into as the story progresses.

“My monologue is titled In search of neoclassical perfection,” says Kanupriya Iyer as she introduces its theme to us. With this piece, the theatre professional adds that following the meaning of Neoclassical art (which is known for ‘order, balance, and being unemotional’), she is “using this metaphor to explore Gifted Child Exhaustion and the feeling of never being enough, yet having to push past it and let life continue.” She further mentions that this play was always envisioned as a monologue as the format provides her with “a great emotional release.”

Abhinaya Radhakrishnan is all set to feature in the presentation of Malli — written by Narendhar Venkatesan and directed by Navaneetha Krishnan. While discussing the premise, she says, “It is metaphorically drawing a parallel between the life of a flower and a woman in various aspects. I am sure several women will be able to connect with the play’s core themes.”

Abhinaya further tells us the most relatable aspect of this story, “The play is all about certain incidents women come across in their lives, which cannot be overlooked, what people experience every day but forget to notice,” she highlights.

Harini, who has been in the theatre business for many years as a makeup artist, is all set to present The Last Makeup. With an intriguing plot involving the interaction between a struggling makeup artist and a stranger, this monologue is also directed by Harini and written by Ved Arun Rajkumar.

Further discussing the plot, Harini mentions, “The monologue broadly explores the themes of hope and finding the determination to pursue one’s dreams in the most unexpected places and people.” Harini reflects that the journey of the character was quite relatable for her and promises that it will be so for the audience as well.

Tickets at INR 300.

July 21. 7 pm onwards.

At Medai - The Stage, Alwarpet.