THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : ‘To Be or Not To Be: An Interactive Dialogue on Disability’, an innovative discourse to understand the condition of disability, will be performed at the courtyard of Institute of English, University of Kerala, on Monday at 6pm. Disability activist Tiffany Brar will inaugurate the unique discourse in which disability will be discussed through characters of Shakespeare.
Institute of English director Meena T Pillai will deliver the keynote address on approaches to disability in the modern age. Kalyani Vallath of Vallath Education will introduce the performance.
The play, written and directed by media personality and writer Anand Haridas, utilises characters from Shakespearean dramas to explore the complexities of living with a disability. Kalyani will present a paper on the performance at the 46th Comparative Drama Conference to be held at Orlando, Florida, on April 5. In an effort to raise awareness of disability dialogues, Vallath Education is planning to hold reading sessions at different college campuses across the state.
The performance aims at equipping the young generation to approach disability more compassionately. At the same time, the text is layered with different characters from plays of Shakespeare that explore the issue of disability, as well as references from other English literature works. The project aims to take disability beyond the personal space to deploy it in a larger societal framework, thereby, turning a mirror to ourselves.
Shakespearean influence
The play, written and directed by media personality and writer Anand Haridas, utilises characters from Shakespearean dramas to explore the complexities of living with a disability.