Kolkata-based troupe The Creative Arts has won the the Laadli award for their all-women production that consisted of excerpts from the stories of Indian female writers like Jhumpa Lahiri.
The troupe bagged the best theatre award at the National Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity in Mumbai recently for their play 'Baawre Mann Ke Sapne'.
The play showcases the real-life stories of strife and survival of the members themselves.
Theatre artiste Ramanjit Kaur, who led the team, said the play consists of excerpts from various stories by Indian women writers like Lahiri, Bulbul Sharma, Abha Iyenger, Irene Dhar Malik, Lalitambika Antarjanam and others.
The project is unique as it uses theatre as therapy with homemakers from middle class and upper middle class strata who went through rigorous training of discipline of time, space and body.
They had sessions from professionals on acting, theatre theory, communication, music appreciation, light design and space design.
The stories which the play dealt with ranged from tradition and skepticism, collective responsibilities and individual choice, spanning themes of caste and hierarchy, relationships, physical and emotional violence, dreams and nightmares, sexuality and search for self-identity.
The Laadli awards are organised by NGO Population First and supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFP) to recognise, acknowledge, felicitate and encourage media, journalists and advertising professionals working on gender issues.
