UAE’s drama queens

Hailing from different lands, five women play-wright-directors are breaking the silence on issues and labels, which have for centuries defined the woman

A five-woman squad of playwright-directors define womanhood by choosing to express what is usually left unsaid.

Give me a moment. I need to understand/ absorb this. Just a minute ago, we were laughing out loud — what happened exactly that got us all teary-eyed? Weren’t we talking of how painful (physically and mentally) it is to get our brows threaded (every few days) and then suddenly… we had goose bumps as one amongst us narrated a tale of an acid victim. It got us angry, upset. The mood had changed and just like that we knew what we were here for. We’re at The Junction, Al Quoz. Rashmi Kotriwala, one of the founding partners of the community theatre space, has put us in the green room. There are five of us — we don’t know each other (yet). We’ve seen each other — on the stage, in the wings, and among the audience. Kotriwala, the festival director of Queens Of Drama 2017, has a dream and she’s decided to make us a part of it. This is the second edition of the festival that aspires to put women from the UAE in the forefront. “I started out on this journey with a thought that I need to make the festival a meaningful exercise of self-expression. I met some amazing writers and directors over the last few years of my theatrical journey and thought that we could have freshly written scripts directed by them.” As for me, that’s how I met the other four queens — Dhruti Shah D’souza, Farheen Khan, Peri Desai, and Rosine Saad. As for our conversations, not a lot has changed — except that now we are a squad that has chosen to define womanhood. Over many cups of coffee, we experience a spectrum of emotions and we embrace each. We’re not feminists. We’re storytellers. We wish to narrate tales, to men and women alike. We stage on April 6, 7, and 8 at The Junction. We hope that you can be part of this journey.

I always write comedy. Life is already a serious business as it is, so it’s better talk to about it with a smile and with laughter. And this is what I want to pass on for women and all kinds of men in their lives through the festival. Rosine Saad Lebanese playwright & director

The show is always on Individual four-to-five minutes scenes and monologues about funny or everyday moments in a woman’s daily life. It will unfold via a musical transition with group dance movement between each of the scenes.

I chose this platform to speak for femininity in all its facets, from the mother to the warrioress, the everyday heroines in our modern world. And, further still, to speak of the femininity in every man, and the sacred unity within us all. Dhruti Shah D’souza Indian playwright & director

i Are we our birth names? Are we the societal or familial labels of what our identity stands for? Or destinies we are told we are bound by? Are we the choices we make, to render sense of who we are, or manacled by the choices presented to us? The conscious and the subconscious intermingle in a spinning series of dance-drama monologues, where myriad characters explore this primordial essence of ‘i’.

Please don’t cry A story about the common, yet unspoken struggles and muted truths of undiagnosed postnatal depression — this act will detail the extraordinary resilience of a woman’s spirit to come through an experience that nearly tears her world apart, at a time when she would rather feel the joys of motherhood.

Runway One woman — taking two different decisions, which send her on separate life paths. Can she reconcile herself to the consequences of her choices? Will she accept, let go, move on or find peace, love, and joy? More importantly, will she forgive and learn to love herself?

I believe that some stories need to be told, irrespective of boundaries. For a closet activist like me, the festival is a chance to make the voices of many heard. Each story (told by other playwrights) will make you stop and think. It’s our chance to applaud the courage of a woman. Purva Grover Indian playwright & director

The Pink Ribbon 2003. Left. 1996. Right. 1998. Both. Colleague (Miracle). 2016. Left. Undergoing Chemo (Hope). Stage 3 reality is ugly. So, the world decided to paint it pink. Pink is pretty. Breast Cancer isn’t. It’s red. It’s ugly. Sometimes, it’s blue and black too. Breasts are an important body part, but we don’t talk about it. Neither do we tell our girls what to call them. We tell them that they have a head and toes, neck and knees, and a small and large intestine in between. Only when it is October we utter the word breasts and we wear pink ribbons. How does a cancer survivor feel to be sold, every October in the form of pink treats? Breast cancer sells. But, we forget it bleeds too.

I didn’t need any encouragement to be involved in this wonderful celebration of local, female talent. I appreciate the themes explored by each playwright and am sure they will resonate with both women and men. Farheen Khan British playwright & director

It’s a great platform to say what I want through my craft. Also, we’re working on an excellent theme. A lot of my writing aims to create awareness in men and women in order to build an understanding between the genders. Working on the project is so much fun. Peri Desai Indian playwright & director

Queens Of Drama is the first of its kind theatrical event in the UAE where women are writing and discussing stories that are not generally spoken about but need to be. We hope that these stories will make a difference to society. The audience, which comes to watch us will feel something changing within them. This is not a competition — it is a platform to express what is usually left unsaid, but that which is experienced by many. Rashmi Kotriwala Festival Director, Queens Of Drama & Co-founder, The Junction