We performed Chu Kar Dekho for the survivors who travelled with us on the Dignity March sharing their experiences repeatedly and invited them on a journey of making theatre with us. We felt theatre could offer a space of catharsis, healing, expression and most importantly, a chance to tell their stories on their own terms. This led to the birth of the play, Main Yahan Hun: 8 Mahila, Ek Shareer. It is a collective expression of bodies that have endured caste and sexual violence across generations. The performance is filled with unfulfilled desires, confessions, secrets and dreams. Journeying between childhood, youth and womanhood, the actors provoke questions around identity, freedom and justice. Main Yahan Hun is woven from personal experiences, listening closely to the body to reveal beauty and violence in everyday life. The play is performed by 8 women from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh between the ages 18-40 years. It is a devised performance in collaboration with the eight survivors and members of Maraa.
The performance is a culmination of numerous discussions over a period of nine months about justice, freedom, memory, identity, love and childhood. Here is a glimpse into the excerpts from conversations through the making of the play, Main Yahan Hun.
