Being a woman, and the after effects

Delhi-based theatre actor and director Sonali Sharma will be in Hyderabad with two of her plays, 'A Woman Alone' – a classic written by Italian playwrights Dario Fo and Franca Rame that she will be presenting as a monologue, and ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ that she has written, directed and acted, also featuring popular actors Sohaila Kapur and Arti Nayar.

The plays presented by Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation will be staged at Sheraton Hyderabad on Sunday from 6.30pm Sonali, who has been a part of Delhi theatre circuit since 2002, has acted in a Hindi film, ‘Dam Laga KeHaisa’, holds a day job as Communications Head at Helpage India and is a full-time theatre person; and stage is where her heart is. “As many say theatre is all about instant response, and we learn immediately what the audience has liked and what has not worked.

You don’t get a second chance – if you mess up you must innovate then and there and make it right. One scene can be done in different ways during different stagings. Theatre gives me a major high. That said movies are a lot of hard work. For one scene, we take many retakes – the same emotion has to be maintained. And, since much is at stake, care is taken at every stage, script is looked into and if need be re-written – every aspect of the film is looked into diligently,” she relates.

Both the plays – the latter one scripted by her premiered in New Delhi – are based on women issues. Interestingly the classic play too deals set in the 20th century reflects on the current situation as well. Sonalishares, “It is a comic satire, but a dark one. It speaks very strongly about women’s rights and equality.

A woman virtually locked in the house lives amidst men who all want a piece of her – time, body, her love. She goes by society’s norm that woman has to look after everyone. And she has no time for herself – sexually or otherwise. How that affects her life, and how she deals with the situation is what the play all about.”

Having worked with aged women and being witness to women languishing under stereotyping through her life, Sonali when she wanted to script a play – ‘‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ came naturally to her, and is a little personal in that sense. Here in contrast with the earlier play, one of the protagonists, the mother played by Sohaila is a spirited old woman, who refuses to live by how the society expects 60 plus women to be.

She is spirited, defies stereotypes and refuses to apologise for what she is. On the other hand, the daughter hardly has time for herself. Theirs is an edgy relationship; and the reason is explored during the play.

Sonali began her theatre career with Yatrik theatre group, one of the oldest in New Delhi as an actor, she directed a play in later years, and ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ is an important play since it is the first on that she scripted. “It is based on stories of women that I have witnessed through my growing years. I believe that age should not be a hindrance to the way a woman chooses to live.

Life is about living, to have an independent identity and enjoying it. While in the first play the woman is journeying towards the identity, the second one is about how the woman knows what she is and lives life on her own terms and is dealing with it,” she explains.