So far, 2018 has been off to a theatrically strong start; and to add to the strength of the stage, Hyderabad will be raising its curtains to the women of Lal Batti Express or Red Light Express , a play that brings together women who were sexually abused.
It’s a first for the city and for India, which is exciting for Tarusha Saxena of Art Life , which brought the play to the city. “Bringing Lal Batti here has been my dream; we’ve been working with Kranti for a while now to bring the girls here and the whole thing took about a year and a half. I don’t see this as an Art Life event, I see this as a Hyderabad event. It makes me so proud to see how our city is leaning into support such movements.” Kranti, an NGO based in Mumbai, has been instrumental in fuelling this project and is headed up by Robin Chaurasiya who continues to be inspired by the strength of the girls in expressing themselves in such an open and honest way.
Through various depictions of the difficult realities of the sex industry, the hour-long play has left lasting impressions around the world, having been staged at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year. Lal Batti also travelled to the United States where close to 10 lakh-strong audiences in New York, Washington, Las Vegas, Chicago and San Francisco were touched profoundly by the deeply personal narratives of the girls’ journeys through life.
All about the girls
The cast comprises 14 performers aged between 13 and 23 years; they were born and raised in Kamathipura, an infamous red-light area in Mumbai. The girls, who call themselves Kranti girls, put the play together on their own, further driving home their mission to aggrandise the status of women from all walks of life.
Tarusha shares that meeting the girls for the first time was hugely inspiring for her and, being a woman, she has nothing but endless admiration for the endurance of the group.
“There’s a reason that so many people who have seen the play are in tears after they watch it,” she states, “it’s because all men and women have been sexually harassed or abused at some point in their life.” Red Light Express has also attracted the likes of Rakul Preet, Nandini Reddy, Lakshmi Manchu and Mamta Trivedi who have pledged their support as an ‘Agent of Change’ as a show of unity against abuse towards women.
Red Light Express will be staged at N Convention on January 21 at 6:30pm. Tickets cost ₹300 or ₹600 and are available at BookMyShow.
