In a talkfest with Poorna Jagannathan, producer of The Tricky Part and All the Rage, we discussed why staging plays on unspoken, sensitive yet important issues is an acute need in India
Testimonial theatre was the talk of the town this March, when Poorna Jagannathan along with internationally acclaimed writer/director Yael Faber got witnesses to perform on stage; thus blurring the lines between theatre and reality. The play was Nirbhaya and it was one of those rarest times when the society came together to talk openlyabout issues such as sexual violence and rape.
Jagannathan has turned producer again to bring to India the first leg of Martin Moran's award-winning One-Man-Shows. The plays to be staged here are The Tricky Part and All the Rage, which talk about sexual violence against boys. Here are excerpts from an interview with Jagannathan.
Poorna Jagannathan (PJ): In The Tricky Part, Martin explores the abrupt end of his childhood when he is sexually abused by his camp counsellor at 12. Now, almost 30 years later, he sets out to find and face his abuser. His journey is riddled with humour, complexity and honesty. Ultimately, it's a play about forgiveness—of oneself, and that is the most ground-breaking aspect of it.
With All the Rage, Martin takes us down a path leading to where theatre seldom ventures—a place called "self". Martin has wondered, for most of his adult life, why he didn't feel angry with the man who sexually abused him when he was 12. So, he sets off to look for this elusive "rage".
PJ: The impetus came out of audiences' reaction to Nirbhaya. In Nirbhaya, five women came forward and "broke their silence" on the sexual and gender-based violence they had faced. Just the act of "breaking the silence" is significant; it starts shifting the blame from the survivor to the perpetrator and demands accountability. After every show, however, audiences would ask why we hadn't included any stories of boys or men. In India, sexual abuse of boys is as common as that of girls: one in two boys is sexually abused. And Meenakshi Ganguly from Human Rights Watch tells us that this abuse cuts across all economic and social divides.
Yet hardly anyone acknowledges this epidemic—there's barely any conversation around it. The problem is there are so few voices attached to a cause, it never gets the attention or political weight it really needs.
That's one aspect of it—the other is that I truly believe that when we address sexual violence against boys, we will be addressing one of the root causes of violence against women. We cannot solve sexual violence against women without engaging men.
PJ: I hope Martin's plays shift mindsets and create awareness. Few people know about the epidemic of sexual violence amongst boys but we can't be blind to it any more. I hope it allows men who've been affected to consider breaking their silence. I also hope we as a society, start shifting shame from victim to perpetrator.
PJ: It hasn't changed, but it doesn't rattle me as much! The show must go on and QTP, the tour's managing company, is running this tour with very little gas in the tank.
PJ: We are in conversations to make that a reality, either through film or another medium. Just this month, Nirbhaya was taught at a high School in NYC and to witness that was extraordinary.
PJ: I'm currently shooting an HBO show called Criminal Justice and just finished House of Cards.
PJ: My next collaboration starts in 2015 on a Bhopal-based theatre project. I finish shooting for HBO by February of next year and then tour Nirbhaya internationally and through India again.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}