Artist I Educator
I am a Bangalore based theatremaker practicing as playwright, performer, director, dramaturg, & educator.
My anti-oppressive arts practice places care, curiosity, and community at the core of the creation process. I am deeply invested in exploring the interplay of identity-belonging-power-gaze in the contemporary socio-political context.
I have been the recipient of Voices from the South Grant by Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 100Artist Grant
by Sud kulture, and Artist-in-Residence at Schauburg Theatre for Youth Munich + Vila Waldberta in 2019.
I am Artistic Director of Qabila, where my work centers new writing and the dissenting imagination.
And Co-Founder of OffStream, an artist collective
that makes and enables creative projects around anti-caste advocacy.
I also teach at universities, schools, and community spaces. Scroll down for details on electives and workshops.
Recently included in the Rise Beyond The Ceiling Muslim Women Achievers from Karnataka 2024.
How do I frame my anti-oppressive practice?
Here are a few links that you can read/watch.
In conversation with Against The Tide by Maraa
ABOUT QABILA
Qabila was formed in 2018 at the end of the thirteen month long Indian Ensemble Director's Training Program and the six month long Indian Ensemble Playwriting Program. Both rigourous programs were under the mentorship of Abhishek Majumdar, then Artistic Director of Indian Ensemble, and with guest lectures by veteran and contemporary theatremakers like Sunil Shanbagh, Anmol Vellani, Irawati Karnik, Anurupa Roy, Neel Chaudhuri and Vivek Madan.
As a first generation independent artist in my extended family and one of the few arts practitioners from my birth community, it took me a while to find my voice within the contemporary theatre scene in Urban India. But today I can confidently say that Qabila creates work that is politically provocative and staunchly feminist, bringing a dissenting imagination to all its productions.
Qabila's work has been most recently invited to 15th International AWID Forum 2024 (Bangkok), ITFOK 2024 (International Theatre Festival of Kerala), and Feminist Theatre Festival 2023 in Jenin (Palestine).
Earlier festival curations of Qabila's productions include City Scripts 2020 and Atta Galatta Children's Theatre Festival 2019.
Review of wepushthesky
"The performance was part history lesson, part culinary exploration, and part feminist fable. The fourth wall was constantly broken, with the protagonist engaging with the audience....
... Under the protagonist’s piercing gaze and strident voice, we confront our complicity. In the normalisation of hate over the last decade, in the repeated silences over the othering of an entire community, we realise the personal is often intensely political"
Read more here.
Review of wepushthesky
"The production was terrific, with exceptional scriptwriting and acting by Nisha Abdulla and lights by the team of Madhusudan and Arun. The set design was by Gowtham and Pardafash designed the sound. Shradha Raj flawlessly managed the production. Ujwala Rao as a director kept the play tight, intense and engaging. The play is a triumph of storytelling and is exceptionally brave"
Read more here.
Review: how long is february? a fantasy in three parts
"The director and the troupe saddle the imagined future and realities of the past and present with quiet assertion. The existence of discrimination becoming institutionalised and systematic laws creating a space for violence to be repeated again and again. The play speaks to the unfair, illegal and unconstitutional process unfolding in India...
... brings to your screen an India that the travel and tourism advertisements won’t ever show you"
Read more here.
ABOUT OFFSTREAM
I met fellow travelers in the dissenting artscape, Padmalatha Ravi and Sri Vamsi Matta, while the world was in the throes of the Covid 19 pandemic.
We realised quickly that we shared a dream. We felt passionately about changing the nature of support in art circles. We dreamt of making it easier for first generation artists from historically under-resourced and marginalised communities to learn their craft, to deepen their practice, and to thrive emotionally with the support of a compassionate community.
So what does OffStream do?
We make art with a strong anti-caste imagination.
We support emerging/first generation artists to make anti-caste work. We do this with pre-funded workshops that support artists to learn and deepen their practice, and by funding their work with the OffStream Futures Grant.
The recipients of the first OffStream Futures Grant was announced in September 2023 and their projects showcased in Bangalore in February 2024.
What else do I dabble in? I also write periodically for independent news media. Mostly on issues that impact women, minorities, and culture.
Ram Mandir Consecration Ceremony and its aftermath
What is the hijab controversy really about?
Why must we listen to the women impacted?
OPEN WORKSHOPS: OF SHARED UNIVERSES
is a workshop for early writers across playwriting, screenwriting, non-fiction where I teach basic craft - devices and tools that I have learnt over time from mentors and books, and also devices and tools that I've created for myself. Alongside the basics, what's unique about the workshop is that participants are empowered to dive into their own history with expression and examine how their social locations have impacted comfort with writing. Typically conducted over 18 to 36 hours across weekends, as my bandwidth and participant needs dictate.
Documentation of Of Shared Universes by Bhasha Center
UNIVERSITY ELECTIVES
Dramaturgy of Protest: Understanding the image making, aesthetics, and storytelling of social justice movements.
Power and Body: Examining our relationship to power and how it operates in body and community.
INTEGRATED AND CUSTOMISED WORKSHOPS
I believe very much in the use of theatre+storytelling as pedagogical tools to teach real world ideas and cultivate imaginations for new futures. Since 2014, I've been involved in creating learning spaces in community centers and schools where teenagers and youth can safely explore gender sensitivity and masculinities, anti-caste and constitutional values, as well as social emotional learning. Get in touch if you would like to collaborate on any of the above!