Thiruvananthapuram: A group of transgender activists has come up with a unique way to raise funds for rehabilitation work in flood-ravaged Kerala: staging a play based on their own lives.
Dhwayah Transgenders Arts and Charitable Society, a theatre group with as many as 14 transgenders staged a play titled ‘Parayan Maranna Kathakal' at Ganesham auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram’s Thycaud on Monday.
“This was the fifth staging of 'Parayan Maranna Kathakal'. The first was at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala in Thrissur,” said Sheethal Syam, Dhwayah’s president and one of the actors in the play.
The play is not scripted and is, in fact, based on the real-life stories of many transgenders in Kerala. “As everyone is doing their bit to help Kerala return to normalcy, we also decided to do our part. We had already contributed 50,000 rupees to the chief minister’s distress relief fund,” says Sheethal, adding that the troop had also lost a lot of their belongings during the devastating floods in Aluva.
‘Parayan Maranna Kathakal’ has been selected for a performance at an international theatre festival to be held in Goa later this year, says Sheethal. “The troop, containing 13 transwomen and one transman, was trained by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy for over 10 days,” she adds. The one-hour play is helmed by Tamil Nadu-based director Sreejith Sundaram.
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