Nirbhaya to stage protest

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While the Nirbhaya gangrape evoked reactions from all quarters it has also influenced artists overseas. South African theatre artist Yael Farber is presently rehearsing a play titled Nirbhaya, based on the incident, with a group of seven actors in the city. Farber believes that the incident has broken the banks of what is tolerable.

Director and playwright Farber says she is deeply affected by Nirbhaya’s case, her courageous fight for her life and subsequent death. “Sexual violence against women and children is a global crisis. Nirbhaya’s death has brought that fact to the front-centre once again,” says Farber.
The play, says the playwright, can broadly be described as a testimonial work. With Jyoti Singh Pandey as the central character, the plot is a voyage into the realm of personal testimonies culled from the performers, who have survived various forms of sexual violence themselves. “All actors are Indian and we rehearse from morning till evening. I am the only member of this team who is not from India. Each artist involved in this project is a part of the efforts towards this breaking of silence. We hope to provoke and inspire people,” says Farber.
Farber says that the violence against women is a global phenomena, “I am from South Africa but my native country has been called the Rape Capital of the world. It’s amongst the highest statistically for child and baby rape.”
The play will travel to other countries as well and, hopefully, on December 16, 2013, it will be staged for the Indian audience who will bear witness to what transpired a year prior, says Farber. “We hope to tour India. We hope to tour anywhere that our work resonates,” she adds.