Acclaimed actor and director Lillette Dubey returns to Watermans with Primetime Theatre Company's 'Womanly Voices' which received rave reviews in India. Three stories by prominent Indian women writers are weaved together in a masterly fashion to reveal the heart of the real India. 'Womanly Voices' is characterised by strong storylines and intensity of emotions. Dubey created 'Womanly Voices' to pay homage to the quality of Indian women writers.

She selected three stories, dealing with the timeless issues of class conflict, ego and spirituality, which were brave and broke with traditional clichés. The stories are about; the servant-master power imbalance between two girls in an upper class household; an idealistic civil servant's encounter with the reality of poverty; and a frustrated music teacher's relationship with his new found prodigy.

"There is nothing soft or sentimental about them", Dubey says, "these stories have strong themes - subliminal yet layered. They have distinctive voices."

Adapting the stories for the stage presented a challenge for Dubey, especially given that each story is from a different region of India and originally written in a different language - each with it's own nuances and inflections. Intensive workshop sessions with a company of actors enabled Dubey to create a production that unites the three stories into a coherent picture of modern India while still allowing the voice of each of the writers to be heard.

'Womanly Voices' is a powerful drama that is intense yet invigorating, taking audiences on a journey into the many different layers that make up the Indian subcontinent, where tradition and modernity collide and life is lived on several levels.

'WOMANLY VOICES' - STORY SYNOPSIS

Utran (Hand Me Downs) - Wajeda Tabassum
Utran (Hand Me Downs), by Urdu writer Wajeda Tabassum, tells the story of the relationship between two young girls that are raised equal but not born equal. Chamki has always being given her friend, Pasha's, hand-me-downs - a constant reminder of her social position, until one day Chamki discovers a way to rectify the imbalance.

Shishu (Children) - Mahashweta Devi
Shishu (Children), by acclaimed Bengali writer Mahashweta Devi, brings to the fore the voice of the marginalized. A relief officer is posted to a rural village in Bihar where he is struck by the intense poverty that is crushing the community's spirit to near sub-human level.

The Teacher's Story - Gita Mehta's
The Teacher's Story is the story of Sengupta, a frustrated music teacher, struggling to make a living and constantly being nagged by his wife and children. However, a chance meeting with a blind boy blessed with "the voice of an angel" rekindles his dreams and ambitions. The Teacher's Story is a tale of greed, jealousy and madness set in the world of Sufi music.

ABOUT LILLETE DUBEY

Lillete Dubey is an acclaimed Indian theatre and film actor whose best known international role is that of Pimmi Verma in Monsoon Wedding, 2001. She has also appeared in several Bollywood films including Baghban (2003), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and Chalte Chalte (2003). She established Primetime Theatre Company in 1981 to promote Indian writing in English. Their last show was Dance Like a Man at Watermans in 2003.

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