Lushin charms audience with solo on women abuse

Times News Network


Gurgaon: After being staged for over 250 times across the country and abroad, the play,
'Untitled', came alive on the second day of the Times Gurgaon Festival in the city on Friday.  Actor-director Lushin Dubey, who is among the popular faces in the country's theatre circuit, wooed the audience with her mind- blowing solo performance.  The one-act play a pendulous swing between two stories has been staged over 250 times in India  and abroad.

Based on noted Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha's story Nyari Nyari Maryada and Dario  Medea,the play focuses on exploitation of women across social, cultural and economic divides.
Staged exten- sivelyin institutions such as Harvard, Berkeley, The World Bank and such, the play  have been appreciated everywhere.

It is basically an experimental venture, with fusion in each element of the design, from language  of performance, set and music to acting with puppets.

For its director, Arvind Gaur, it was an attempt to discover a new language for solo performance. The script is a pendulous swing between two stories (one Indian & one western) and touches  upon pertinent aspects, giving voice to the woman's case. 

The production is a combination of English and Hindi, and Lushin's co-actors are puppets, with her playing different roles to project different characters. Lushin not only depicts characters physically but also delves under their skin to look at their psyche, using her voice, gait, body movements, masks, puppets, different scarves and music. The result is a true-to-life characterization of a lecherous king (husband), his wife, a maid, a young girl in her teens, Medea and her old maid and many more. Concluding the play, Lushin says, "The recent gang rape affected all of us. It's time people stepped out of their shells and discussed these issues. Only then can we find solutions."