In Broad Daylight
When and Where
Description
Munia Debleena Tripathi originally designed In Broad Daylight in Bangla as a part of her doctoral research to be performed in domestic spaces in the city of Kolkata in order to cater to people who do not attend the centrally located theatre auditoriums in the city. A wide range of people across class, caste and gender have connected deeply to the play in Kolkata. This staged reading of the play seeks to explore how culturally removed audiences receive this play in its English rendition.
Synopsis
Rekha is a 41-year-old woman. Dropped out of school at 15. Runs a one-woman business selling sarees. Husband. Two kids. All little rebellions now in the past. Tame, lacklustre life.
What happens when she starts transgressing (again)? Just the usual! A well revered demigod turns up at Rekha’s doorstep in designer red bordered white saree, modern sleeveless blouse and generously applied traditional sindur, to lure and cajole and threaten Rekha into being a lokkhi meye (good girl) again.
Bio
Munia Debleena Tripathi is an independent theatre-maker and a PhD candidate at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Toronto. Her research interests include contemporary Indian theatre, applied theatre, political theatre, audience research and practice-as-research. She has completed MA, Applied and Participatory Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London (2014-15) and MA, Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University (2012-14).
Munia writes in both Bangla and English. The first play written by her, Hariye Jete Nei Mana, was premiered at the International Nandikar Theatre Festival, 2009, Kolkata. Plays directed by her include Ichchhamoti (2018), Dil Ki Duniya (2017) and Naatok (2015).
Munia designed the MA, Applied Theatre syllabi for the Department of Drama, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, which was the first public university in India to introduce this course. She taught there as a part-time lecturer (2017-2019). She has worked as a theatre-trainer in several schools and led theatre workshops for both children and adults, focussing on playwriting, direction and devising.
Please RSVP to debleena.tripathi@mail.utoronto.ca to attend this event.