The Theatre Times: Celebrity make-up artist Renju Renjimar believes that it takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow. Despite years of bias and marginalization the trans person has encountered, she has learned that life is not without its silver linings. Renju is now happy to have a platform to tell the world both the high points and the vicissitudes of her life.
Mazhavil Dhwani, the first transgender theatre group in the State, has been taking the stories of the community far and wide through the play Parayan Maranna Kadhakal in an attempt to wake up society’s conscience and help it see both sides of the coin.
3 comments:
I love the idea of this theatre group because all too often cishet people go around playing transgender characters trying to tell a story that isn’t theirs to tell. It is great to see how trans people are creating a safe space for themselves through art. I love seeing art being used as a healing tool and not just a political tool. It is great to hear about the acceptance that these trans performers have started to receive after traveling with this show. That is probably the most touching part of this article as someone who can empathize with these performers a lot. I love that this article talks about the script of Paraya Maranna Kadhakal showing that trans people are people just like everyone else because a problem with representation today of almost all minorities from Judaism to racial minorities to the queer community is when they are depicted in media their minority status is what defines them. Minority people are more than just minorities and I’m glad that this show appears to help paint this picture. I would really love to be able to see this show if only it was in Pittsburgh.
This show reminds me of Nirbhaya which I was fortunate enough to see a few years ago in New York. That show has an ensemble of women who were victims of sexual abuse who were telling their real stories on stage every night in front of audiences. I was so impressed by their ability to put on this show day after day, knowing that there was no way that it got easier to do. They were doing it because they knew they needed to get their stories out there for the other women who were not as fortunate as them as to be able to do so. I appreciate so much that people can find the mental fortitude to express themselves and expose themselves in this way onstage. It is one of the most raw and influential forms of theater I think you can make. The truth and the power behind their words is something that a playwright just cannot capture otherwise.
I love that this is happening! Too often we see cis people telling the stories of trans people and making a cheap imitation of something that is very serious and important. These stories should be told and listened to. I like that Mazhavil Dhwani is using theatre to make a point and to educate the masses. Groups like this should be brought into the limelight so we can even spread their work farther and wider. I love that Mazhavil Dhwani is moving to just tell stories to show that they are all just people as well. I feel that a lot of stories about being queer center around only coming out and tend to follow a storyline of heartbreak and, sometimes, suicide over not being accepted. These stories are valid, but I think they center on telling us that we are only valid if straight and cis people accept us which is highly problematic. Hopefully more stories about trans people simply existing and happy in their bodies can be told.
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