HYDERABAD: In tandem with the International Women’s Day motto for this year, ‘Better Together’, Rangasthalam Actors Studio has put together a Hindi play called #Feminism written by Nitin Mane, writer, and director, Professor of acting at Annapurna College of Film and Media. With a cast of seasoned theatre actors from the city including Akshay Kokala, Devika Das, Pratibha Agarwal and Deepika Mahidhara, the play has been in the offing for the last month and a half. “We have been rehearsing and we are looking forward to the debut performance of the same,” says Nitin as he directs his cast.
A professor of acting, Nitin was one day approached by his students to write a play for them to work on. “My focus was on the discourse of feminism in the current world. What is a balanced measure of gender equality? I decided that I wanted to write on that matter,” he explains. He adds, “The play is how women of various social stratas and backgrounds experience patriarchy and even feminism. A group of people who live here in Hyderabad but have a different experience of gender inequality is what I tried to bring in. For instance, a woman of lower strata might not experience the privilege of equality that an urban working woman would. That was the disparity I wanted to explore.”
Nitin also intends to explore the crosses that women bear with regard to sexualities, expectations and her role intellectually or economically. “Although this lay is focussed on disparity between the two binary genders, we understand that it runs deeper than that. We believe in inclusivity of all genders and sexual orientation and we hope this play gives the audience something to think about,” says Nitin.
#Feminism will be staged on November 2 and 3 at Nritya Forum for Performing Arts,Banjara Hills, 8 pm.