Firefly Women

Firefly Women is an interactive Physical Theatre piece. It explores ideas of Feminist utopia against the backdrop of letters written from jail by three Indian women incarcerated under a draconian law and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s story “Sultana’s Dream”. In their letters to addressed to their friends, lovers and comrades, the women write about their memories of cold winter nights at protest sites, learning from their fellow inmates, the numbing monotony of prison life, keeping hope alive, the need to keep the work for a Feminist revolution going, even as they are incarcerated. Through these letters, the piece attempts to find inroads into solidarity, collective dreaming, resilience and hope in these dark times. Trailer here

Suitable for Ages 15+

PERFORMERS: Priiya & Manjari Kaul

SOUND DESIGN: Neel Chaudhuri

DRAMATURGY: Nisha Abdulla

COSTUMES: Sandhya Raman (Tilak Singh, Pawan, Ajit Singh)

PUPPETS MADE BY Shobhit Tandon & Manjari

SET CONSTRUCTED BY Jaan Mohammad

PRODUCTION MANAGER Kiran U

DIRECTION & DESIGN: Manjari Kaul

ORIGINAL TEXT BY Devangana Kalita, Gulfisha Fatima & Natasha Narwal with excepts from Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream”.

Directors Note

The central idea explored in Firefly Women is that of an intersectional Feminist revolution that focuses on hope and courage to fight a long battle through the dark times we live in. It offers a vision of a future that rails against an imposed forgetfulness and moral amnesia. We thread a way forward through solidarity and care-giving. The act of writing letters, I argue through this work, is an act of hoping and holding each other, an act of remembering in these dark times, an act of resistance in itself.

About the Director

Manjari is a queer feminist performer, director and Theatre facilitator with over a decade of experience. She is a graduate of the DUENDE School of Ensemble Physical Theatre (2015) and holds a Master's degree from The School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (2010). She is a recent recipient of Frankfurt MOVES! (supported by Frankfurt Lab), Think Arts 2022 and Genderalities 2.0 (supported by ReFrame Arts) Grants She works extensively with children, creating work for and with young people in the Theatre. She is dedicated to exploring the incongruous, disruptive and off-key in Theatre and live performance; seeking possibilities for intersections and solidarities. Manjari’s area of investigation in performance making lies in anti-oppressive, experimental and movement based work. Most of her Theatre learnings come from peer sharing and community based work rather than institutionalized learning spaces for Arts practices. Gender, sexuality and memory expressed through a personally political lens are leitmotifs in her work.

About Cartoon Natyam Performance Series

Cartoon Natyam is an initiative by Veena Basavrajaiah designed to create a space that addresses the issues of the art world. It started with an online forum where cartoons and illustrations are used to ellicit discussions that are socially and politically impacting the artists and their practice. Taking this idea of dialogue between art, practice and audience further, Cartoon Natyam will be curating a series of live performances in collaboration with Courtyard Koota. The series will bring to the audience works of various artists who have been engaging with personal and political questions through their art.