The solid and crew of Shensemble
| Photograph Credit score: Particular association
The primary poster for the upcoming all-women anthology Shensemble appears to be like like {a magazine} cowl. Seven ladies, all draped in numerous brightly-coloured saris smile into the digicam. In one other poster, there may be an excellent greater group of ladies — the solid and crew.
“Girls I’m working with on this instructed me they haven’t skilled this type of hype for being a part of a undertaking,” says Dakshana Rajaram, curator. Shensemble goals to be simply that — a platform for girls, and extra importantly,a celebration.
Shensemble brings collectively six ladies writers and administrators from the town with six performs, for a period of 12 minutes every. Staged by Poochu’s Productions in collaboration with Chennai Artwork Theatre, Dakshana says the concept for this anthology was born out of eager to experiment.
The Shensemble crew
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association
“I made a decision to achieve out to 6 ladies who I knew would write scripts. I used to be sure that I needed all six writers on board to be ladies, and we then expanded on this concept,” she says. Vinithra Menon, Shalini Vijayakumar, Bhavya Balantrapu, Meera Sitaraman, Sukanya Umesh, and Namritha Kalai Kovan have written, in addition to directed the performs.“We realised that on the technical facet of issues, not many ladies are concerned regardless of being . In each division, fromlighting and sound design to the big crew working backstage on units and props for Shensemble, ladies have taken cost,” Dakshana says.
Once they have been engaged on their scripts, the administrators got some fascinating riders. Every play may have no more than two actors, and the identical actor couldn’t function in a couple of play. Consequently, Shensemble has 12 totally different performers throughout six performs, and Dakshana says that this gave many younger actors the chance to work with ladies writers in theatre they give the impression of being as much as.
Whereas one play will dabble in puppetry, one other may have a musician on stage with stay music. The themes within the anthology are as assorted as they arrive. Bhavya who’s directing Puppet Mistress says the play is an ode to certainly one of her favorite sequences from Chicago, the musical — ‘We each reached for the gun’.
“I discovered two dancers who’re excellent for the murder-comedy quick,” she says. Whereas Bhavya is worked up for the administrators, together with herself, to lastly see every others’ performs, she additionally emphasises on how supportive and inspiring the expertise of engaged on the anthology has been.
Even after they got here collectively for the photoshoot for the play’s posters, for which they have been styled by Madhulika Kapilavayi of Margazhi Designs, Bhavya says they revelled within the enjoyable, infectious power throughout. “We stay in a world the place rejection is so widespread, however theatre accepts you and what you deliver. It has welcomed me warmly, and the journey has been gratifying.”
@Medai, TTK Highway, Alwarpet at 4pm and 7pm on January 6. Tickets are priced at ₹500 and accessible on allevents.in