A jam-packed auditorium at the Kalabharathi waits
for the curtains to go up and the anxiousness of the audience is quite
palpable. Finally, the curtains roll and the auditorium burst into loud
applause. The scene opens to a chaotic apartment and inside the room heaps of
clothes are strewn around on the chair, bed and across the floor.
Enters Sheron, the lone
artist of the play. She talks, frowns, yells and laughs, narrating her life- a
jealous husband, a brother-in-law who touches her everywhere and a baby cries
in the background- all in monologues.
As the play grows, the story of a woman's tryst with her pain, messed up
situation and an insane society unfolds. It is curtains to the play and what
prevails first in the auditorium is an eerie silence, followed by a standing
ovation and rounds of applause.
The artist who plays Sheron is none other than Shilpi Marwaha, a familiar name in the theatre art and its
aficionados. She has recently performed at the Kalabharathi Auditorium in Vizag which played host to the third Third Rasagnya Theatre Festival-2017.
But why she chose to adopt 'A
Woman Alone', the magnum opus monologue of theatre makers Dario Fo and Franca Rame scripted in the
Seventies, in Hindi
"Anyway, women, often
victims of the patriarchal society, can't afford to voice their woes, but to
talk to themselves. It is all about having monologues and suffering in silence,"
says Shilpi, an actress who
always take up social issues in her works.
Asked why so, the 27-year-old
who did her Masters in Commerce from Kamla
Nehru College, University of Delhi and has already been in the vocation for
the last 12 years, says she lost her mother to the negligence of doctors as she
was administered timely medication and this changed her life upside down.
"There are numerous stories of torture,
helplessness, depressions and anger being played out in the lives of people
which need to be told, a voice must be raised. My work is a way of giving
voices to the unheard. I chose to pursue it and have been doing this since my
university days. I was a part of a theatre group and used to stage plays in the
campus," says Shilpi.
She lives up to her name when it comes to her craft. Be it marital rape,
domestic violence, corruption, women atrocities, gender bias, child labour,
female foeticide or other social taboos, the rising soloist has always handled
her scripts with bold themes. With more than 8000 street plays to her credit so
far, Shilpi is known as the 'fire-brand
street actress' in the theatre
circle.
Street plays are the median for bringing out the ground realities to the
open, she says.
"In a country with the sizeable population living below poverty line, issues
are numerous and people are often reluctant to shell out money on watching a
play instead of movies. Hence, street play is a vital tool to reach out to the
masses with a message. It is not possible for everyone to buy tickets and watch
a play, especially those who are struggling hard to make their ends meet. This
offers a lot of scope for street play which is certainly an effective medium
than a stage play," she says.
But being a theatre artist is not lucrative as a profession and for a
woman, it is even more difficult, thanks to social stigma.
"When I started doing
theatres everywhere I faced the same questionWhy? Some opined that It could be
a hobby, but not a profession. But, my father always stood by me and I never looked
back. Theatre makes me realise what I am," she says.
People of this era are getting
matured. They have started talking about the things which once was considered taboos.
Citing about her another work 'Monologues
plus Vagina' on issues associated with menstruation, Shilpi recalls that
the 20-minute play had people discussing the issue.
"There lies the success. You
want people to drive a point home and nothing can be more rewarding to an
artist like me," Shilpi says, who now runs her own theatre group Sukhmanch Theatre set up in the memory
of her mother.
Shilpi has also forayed into the movies. The character Rashmi, she played
in the film Raanjhanaa made her a
noted actress in the film circle too…
"Movie is also a learning
experience. I will never leave the theatre. Given opportunities, I do not mind
doing films too," says Shilpi, the
creative head and director of Sukhmanch
Theatre, adding that presently, she is
working for a film of a new director. Asked about acting in Tollywood, Shilpi smiles
and says,"If things go well, why not?."
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