JOIN USSinger-actor Ila Arun in town for two women-centric plays
Actor and folk-pop singer Ila Arun is back in the city with two plays on women-related problems. They will be staged this weekend.
The plays, ‘Peechha Karti Parchhaiyan’ and ‘Baby’s Blues’, will be presented by Ila’s theatre group Surnai Theatre and Folk Arts Foundation. “Being a woman, I relate to women and their surroundings more. I feel for them, I celebrate them in my music, and I wanted to speak about issues of women, across all ages and classes,” says Ila, about working on women-centred themes.
Ila, who is deeply influenced by Henrik Ibsen, has adapted his play ‘Ghosts’. The play, ‘Peechha Karti Parchhaiyan’, is written by Ila and directed by KK Raina.
“In 2012, Ebraham Alkazi’s son-in-law Nissar Allana suggested that I work on a play for a theatre festival on the theme ‘Ibsen in tradition’, where I could inculcate many traditions of Rajasthan, and use music in the process. It was then that I got familiarised with Ibsen’s works,” she recollects.
It was during research for the festival that she came across his play ‘Ghosts’, which Ila adapted into a royal setting, and she questions the rule and role of religion here. “Here the ghost doesn’t necessarily mean a ghost one sees in mystery stories, but connects to outdated traditions and rituals that affect and follow women,” she says.
Ila plays the protagonist who is “caged in this palace and wants to talk, and challenge all that is happening around her”. “The main character is surrounded by men and what happens to her is the play’s story,” she adds. The play has been performed in Delhi, Assam, Jaipur, and Mumbai, and is being staged in Bengaluru for the first time on Friday.
While adapting international plays to Indian context can be challenging, “the fact remains that the situation for women all over the world is the same, be it 150 years earlier or now,” adds Ila.
The second play, ‘Baby’s Blues’, is directed by Ila and KK Raina, and written by Tammy Ryan. Ila says, “When I was in New York for a concert, a few years ago, I went to a small store that sells plays by writers who pen stories about the society and other research-oriented narratives. This is where I came across ‘Baby’s Blues’. I had no clue what postpartum depression was back then,” she adds.
After reading the play, she realised that it was one she had to work on. “When I showed the play to KK Raina, we realised how important it is for today’s women. The play talks about how family support and medical assistance are important in such situations,” Ila adds.
‘Peechha Karti Parchhaiyan’ on April 7, 7.30 pm, and ‘Baby’s Blues’ on April 8, 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm, at Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar. Tickets available online and at the venue.