Playing it straight

Exactly three years ago this week, I wrote an article about the representation of homosexual relationships in our theatre. The trigger for it then was the wonderful LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) film festival Kashish, which once again serves as my stimulus this week.

A lot has happened in the three year interim. At the time Article 377 had just been revoked. But now it’s back. Perhaps as a reaction to this motion, more and more plays in Bombay are questioning sexual identity and gender stereotypes.

The latest in the trend is Purva Naresh’s Ladies Sangeet, which opened as part of the Aadyam initiative. This is significant because it places the play in commercial auditoria, and is backed by all the marketing muscle of the Aditya Birla Group. That means a fringe story gets to play to large audiences. If one had to level criticism against Aadyam it was that the programming of the first year was a little too ‘safe’. However, this year festival director Divya Bhatia has pushed the envelope and managed to curate work that is a mix of the conventional and the envelope pushers – both in form and content. The six packed houses in two weeks is testament to the power of Ladies Sangeet. An unconventional story set in a very conventional, recognisable world. The clash between traditional versus modern, and progressive versus regressive, is portrayed with insight and minimal didacticism. Each character wrestles with their own values that test whether they are as evolved as they believe themselves to be.

While Ladies Sangeet has made the biggest splash of late, a large number of plays have recently emerged that are dealing with issues of homosexuality, transgender communities and even cross dressing; all with dignity and respect. Last year’s massive hit Ila has played at every major festival in the country. Gentleman’s Club by the same group (Patchwork Ensemble) has been receiving rave reviews, not just for its content but also because it is an incredibly fun night out. Too often plays about ‘issues’ tend to be wrapped in dull, professorial presentations. In contrast, both Patchwork and Aarambh (makers of Ladies Sangeet) have managed to create enjoyable evenings, while still dealing with contemporary concerns. The incredibly delicate A Friend’s Story was written a long time ago. However Vijay Tendulkar’s characters seem to wrestle with exactly the same questions as people of today. The play appears timeless, but that is more a sad reflection of how little society has travelled since it was first written. A Friend’s Story did very well at the recent META Awards, and again tells a human story rather than an LGBTQ story.

This weekend ‘young’ Vikrant Dhote performs his Dekho Magar Pyaar Se at The Hive. Vikrant has been around the fringes of the theatre scene for almost a decade. In all that time he has tried to find his voice as an artist.

Dekho is the culmination of that journey, ably supported by director Gurleen Judge. When ‘a work in progress’ presentation was made at Thespo 17 in December last year, many were ‘shocked’ by the strong unabashed content.

In the lobby of Kashish one year, journalist and playwright Vikram Phukhan floated the idea of a LGBTQ theatre festival to increase the representation of LGBTQ characters in contemporary theatre. It is a matter of pride to say that such a festival is no longer that paramount. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. The next step is to have LGBTQ characters feature in regular stories, rather than just plays about the LGBTQ issues.

After all, the rising price of food or the destruction of the rain forests or even bad service at a restaurant affects those of alternate sexuality as much as it does the rest.