Harsh Mander's UNSUNI Script Mallika Sarabhai at Jeevika Festival at IHC on 27th August 2010

Asmita theatre presents -"UNSUNI "

based on Harsh Mander’s book Unheard Voices
Script by Mallika Sarabhai & directed by Arvind Gaur

on 27 August 2010 at India Habitat centre, Lodhi Road at 7.30pm

as a part of Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentray Festival 2010

Centre for Civil Society (CCS)

http://www.jeevika.org/

Unsuni - Unsuni is a socially relevant and politically deep script by Mallika Sarabhai, based on the Novel "Unheard Voices" by Harsh Mander. In a Society where the success of a handful makes bigger news than the misery of millions, a s...et of 5 monologues dares to speak out for the mute, the desolate, the chronically ignored... a woefully unloved India, full of People but starved of life.Unsuni lifts the veil around harsh realities faced by the diversity afflicted people of our country. Street urchins abandoned by society to fend for themselves in the face of adversity; tribal people forced to surrender their honour to repacious land grabbers; scavengers and lepers who have never known the meaning of human dignity are some specific problems addressed by the play. The volatile nature of religious politics coupled with an incompetent judicial structure is also portrayed with grave honesty.

In the depiction of all these causes is a common underlying plea for us to open our eyes to the bigger picture, to share that human worth which we for ourselves claim as a right, but deprive others of without justification.The play overall is an intense reminder of horrors towards which we voluntarily turn a deaf ear. It does not aim to downplay the success of those who do make it to the top, but is a call to the privileged to consider those who deserve equal rights, but lack equal opportunity

contact-asmitatheatre@gmail.com

Play on Street Vendors , Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival, 27-29 August 2010

Street play on Street Vendors by Jeevika Street Play Troupe
under the guidence of Arvind Gaur of Asmita Theatre.
This group would tour across DU colleges during August highlighting livelihood issues of street vendors and perform during the Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival,
27-29 August 2010 at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Actors-Vallari,Sumedh Sachdev,Palak,Shilpi Marwaha,Shiv Chauhan,Vaibhav,Pankaj,Vartika Tiwari,Abhay,Pankaj Datta,Aj Parikh,Vasu,Pradip Awasti,Pretesh manas,Sarika,Rahul Sharma, mohit Sharma,priyanka,Abhishek Pandey,Manoj Yadav,Tarun...
16th August - SRC, Mandi House at 6.20pm
19th August at 10 -12.30pm - VISHWAVIDYALA METRO, ARTS FACULTY , NORTH CAMPUS
16th -28 th August 2010 at DU colleges,SRC , IHC,Delhi Haat and Other venues
About the play-
Millions of street vendors in India are without any rights and treated as a nuisance.Street vendors don’t only contribute significantly to the economy, but more than half the urban population is dependent on them. Our street vendors, all 10 million or more of them, are part of the colour of India. They provide the magical allure, the sights, the smells and the sounds that have inspired zillions of foreign writers to India.Yet, ...though all of us Indians, rich and poor alike, make use of them every day of our lives, we take them for granted. Worse, we treat them like dirt. Across the world, street vendors have been part of the marketplace since time began. In the West, bureaucratic, soul-searing legislation has gradually squeezed all spontaneous, innovative, creative solutions off the streets. Now, a chestnut seller on a winter morning is special, a whiff of the past.Some papers have reported that street vendors pay 10-20% of their earnings as such fees. The existing laws to support the rights of street vendors are weak.
The harassment by various authorities, local bodies and departments, and the exploitative fees paid in bribes to those who exploit the loopholes in the system, leads them to destitution. This, in its worst form, takes the shape of eviction and a complete loss of working capital. Instead, regularising their activities in a manner that gives opportunities for relocation would be a better option.The government uses double standards in handling street vendors. Only when all the players involved enter into a meaningful dialogue – from civic authorities to shopkeepers, residents’ associations and vendors – can we resolve the problem in a just and equitable, mutually sustainable way.Otherwise we will continue to marginalise and victimise our vendors through cleanliness drives, violent clashes and populist rhetoric, as is the current practice.
Contact-
Shilpi Marwaha- 9540656537
Shiv Chauhan-9958793683S

Ramkali starring Mallika Sarabhai at SRC by Arvind Gaur on 14 to 16 Aug.

Ramkali
Adaptation of Bertolt Brecht 's play - The Good Person of Szechwan
directed by Arvind Gaur
starring Mallika Sarabhai as Ramkali

Adapted in hindi by Amitabh Srivastava
lyrics by Piyush Mishra
Music by Dr.Sangeeta Gaur

on 14 , 15 & 16 th August at 7 pm 2010
at Sri ram Centre,Safdar Hashmi Marg Mandi House, New Delhi.

Actors -Mallika Sarabhai ,Viren Basoya, Revanta Sarabhai,Shilpi Marwaha,Yadavan Chandran ,Nisarg Trivedi, Anahita Sarabhai, Raj sharma,Pankaj Raj Yadav, Sonal Solanki,Jignesh Patel,Malay Garg,Druma Mehta,Pooja, Pappan,Rajesh , Jayan , Saji, Plani ,Manoj ,Heman ,Charmy , Hinal ,Mani ,Palan, Saurab Pal
About play Ramkali-
It raises core issues facing today’s world, of greed versus common good, of the value of right and wrong, of the pressures society puts on people which drive them to committing wrongs to keep up with expectations, the exploitation of goodness and of good people by an aspiring society, and the question of equating theft and wrong doing out of need with that done out of greed. Brecht used theatre to raise issues, as does Darpana and Asmita Theatre Group, Arvind Gaur’s company based in Delhi. Brecht, like Arvind Gaur and Mallika Sarabhai, believed in entertaining people with theatrics and songs to keep them engaged but watchful, planting seeds of doubt to shake complacency.
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It is said that between the battle of wrong and right, it is truth that wins,
yet ladies and gentlemen, the truth in this play is yet to be discovered…
so if you think it has been some time since you’ve done a good deed,
think again… maybe not.
May be we all have been Ramkali,
doing “the right thing’ in the wrong place or vice versa !
Still having second thoughts?
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Tickets available at Venue - Rs.200/,100/, 50/
Contact-9540656537, 09899650509
asmitatheatre@gmail.com