The Playwrights Database
PRAYAS THEATRE
Nationality: New Zealander
email: n/a Website: n/a
Literary Agent: n/a
Prayas Theatre presents devised Indian theatre in a modern environment to New Zealand audiences in the hope of adding a richness and depth to the local scene and inviting an exchange of ideas from their culture to broaden understanding
Buy Plays with Doollee
Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.AbeBooks.co.uk AbeBooks.com Stageplays.com amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template
below is a list of Prayas Theatre's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Rudali The MournerRudali The Mourner
Synopsis:
Performed in English, this gritty new play by the Auckland Indian group Prayas deals with some of India's most potent social issues; caste and the role and place of women in Indian society. Rudali-the Mourner is set in the village of Tohri in Eastern India - although it could easily be any rural community in India, or even any place else - where powerful men exploit women: the wife, the neighbour and the local prostitute. In Tohri, as in many places, women of a lower caste are hired as mourners upon the death of rich upper-caste males. A Rudali (rou-daali) is paid to grieve aloud publicly so the family of the dead retain their upper caste dignity befitting their social status. Sanichari is mother-in-law to a beautiful and feisty woman who certainly does not accept her place or fate and sets out to defy the village rules. Around them in the village are a host of lively characters, from caring and conniving neighbours, a long lost friend, the comic village priest, ruthless landlords, some brazen prostitutes and a wickedly endearing old nag. Together, they weave a story of friendship, treachery, greed, lust and duplicity around the unusual business of 'Rudali professional female mourners. Sanichari ultimately becomes an icon of empowerment for tribal low-caste women. With Cook Islander Patricia Wichman in the lead, multi-cultural group Prayas have gone outside Auckland's growing Indian community to come up with a multi-ethnic cast and crew. - http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/production.php?id=2623
Notes:
based on the short story by Mahasweta Devi
1st Produced:
Tapac Theatre, Western Springs, Auckland
18 May 2012
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
piece 75 min
Parts:
Male: - Female: 3 Other: ensemble
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page