Stage Appeal

Let her be woman,not goddess. This was the appeal of ‘Avahan’,the dance-drama in the medium of Kathak,performed at Rai Umanath Bali auditorium on Tuesday evening. The programme was a joint presentation of the Rashtriya Kathak Sansthan and Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

“We have tried to tell the story of woman against the backdrop of her everyday travails,” said Sarita Srivastava,who conceived the play. “From the gender bias she faces right from childhood to her fate after marriage,her trauma is told through the journey of a woman who faces torture for dowry after marriage,and abuse after she is widowed. The girl she begets,however,is a contrast in that she silences critics with sheer grit and expression of her inner spark,” she says.

At a point in the play,there is depiction of woman as the eight-armed Durga,holding a gamut comprising a stethoscope,a tennis racket,a laptop and more in each hand.

Smriti Bhandari,Rashmi Shukla,Ayushi Varma,Akriti Bhardwaj,Kavya Rajpal,Ayushi Shukla,Ankita Garima,Khushi Maurya,Pranjali Das Devanshi Tiwari presented the ballet choreographed by Archana Tiwari.