Sheetal Cross
man show to a two-man show. Pillay, who shares the stage with actor Tailyn Ramsamy, said the play consisted of 27 characters in roles they both shared.
“I play multiple characters, but the character that seems to take focus is called Laz. It’s the story of a young boy who grows up in a really traditional family. It’s sort of about his identity and how it shifted from an apartheid, to a postapartheid environment. He battles his ‘Indianness’ and then comes to terms with it,” explained Pillay.
Out of Bounds, was produced by Hungry Minds Productions for this year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, where the production won a Standard Bank Ovation Award on the Fringe, for the upcoming Cape Town Fringe. The play is also produced by The Spiceroots Collective, in association with Hungry Minds.
Pillay added that he connected with the character, because in his own personal and professional life, he had experienced prejudices. Something he says, is on the verge of changing in the entertainment industry. He was referring to the exploring what he refers to as “queer bodies”.
“I am a huge advocate for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community. I think a lot of my personal work is framed around my own experiences. The industry needs to stop looking at normative bodies and normative masculinities, when casting lead actors,” he said.
He added that there were other actors and “other bodies” that could maybe tell the same story better, referring to the gender politics he has experienced.
“I perform my work as a self-realised ‘avatar’ called Adam. My work draws on the politics of gender and queer identity and frames these through the lens of Hindu mythology. Adam, is a ‘neo-deity’, a genderless being who descends to earth from their lotus flower in the cosmos to save humanity from its own constructs and conventions. I am not an entertainer, I am here to change your ideas on the norm,” he said.
Last year, Pillay starred as Emmanuel in a play called Widows, directed by Clare Stopford.