Violent patriarchy makes the world a prison and turns it into a torture chamber for a woman. This fact, coupled with the recent spate of sexual crimes against women prompted director and playwright Zubin Driver to devise Striptease- the gender dialogues . This new piece that comprises four powerful monologues raises pertinent questions that have cropped up in every woman’s mind at some stage in her life. It strives to find answers to questions such as is being sexy a crime, does patriarchy engineer a striptease of every woman on the planet, who really owns a woman’s body and is it possible to resist the constant degradation of the body-mind image of a woman?
The first monologue, Striptease , performed by Lopamudra Mohanty features a seductive woman who draws the audience into a discussion about the female body. She deconstructs herself in front of them and forces them to participate in her ‘stripping’ of bias and prejudice. In the process, the continuous striptease that every woman has to go through every day of her life is explored. Booby-trapped , performed by Dolly Bose, is a provocative piece about a girl with large breasts and how she outgrows them. It looks at how stereotypes manipulate a woman’s self-image and behaviour in creating life’s choices that take her in undesired directions.
Devi , which had featured in Driver’s earlier play Mumbai vs Mumbai , sees Mohanty as a housewife trapped in the labyrinth of daily chores. Over a period of time, she becomes invisible and irrelevant in the rigmarole of her life. Things change when one day, in a moment of epiphany; a goddess appears to her and takes her life into a whole new direction. It shows piece explores how a Goddess lies dormant within each woman, waiting to express herself. The final monologue, Wings , performed by Abhishikta Das showcases the beautiful and empowering moment when a woman realises her true value and breaks free from the tyranny of patriarchy. From a sex object and an undervalued mate, she transforms herself and aspires to take complete control of her destiny.
The last two pieces have been written by Driver this year. He says, “ Booby-trapped exposes body shaming. It shows how women are traumatised while undergoing puberty as they are programmed by the society to feel ashamed and hide what is happening to their bodies. There is an ongoing violence against such young girls as they immediately become targets of sexual crime in the country. Wings is a philosophical, poetic piece that depicts how women should embark on an internal journey to find their true calling in the world.”
Like his earlier works, this time too, Driver has cast women from various walks of life who have infused their own sense of individuality to the monologues. Mohanty, who conducts reading programmes for kids, says working in Striptease has been a positive journey for her. “Initially, while performing, it was very difficult for me to refer to the private parts of women and talk about them in public. But as a woman, I could identify and understand the character. Zubin asked me to narrate and relive the experiences that I had gone through. For me, performances are secondary. I have developed a lot in terms of my own personal relationships and my own space of learning due to the training I underwent while preparing for Striptease .”
The highlight of the gender dialogues is the discussion after the event wherein the actors will interact with the attendees and urge them to share their insights and experiences. Driver says, “Due to increased cases of sexual assault and patriarchal violence against women, there is an urgency to talk about these issues and create pockets of resistance. One way of doing that is to create dialogues that get people, especially women, to talk about them. We also want to have such interactions with men because we need to make them understand the seriousness of the situation. The audience interactions after each show will make the whole experience more tangible and meaningful.”
While theatre cannot directly claim to engineer social change, Driver hopes this effort will spark debate, challenge claustrophobic social biases and help keep the debate on freedom, sexuality, equality and gender alive.
The first performance of Striptease will be held today at a private residence for an all-women audience, followed by a housing society in Nerul next month and thereafter at CLAP, Malad and Anti-Social, Khar
