Two new plays explore women’s lives and caregiving in India

Keval Arora’s play 'Jhadpe', an adaptation of Catherine Hayes’ 'Skirmishes', premiered at India Habitat Centre last week, examining the emotional weight of caregiving through two sisters caring for their dying mother. The Times of India reports the production used sharp dialogue, inventive puppetry, and an unconventional intermission where the lead character continued working while the audience took a break. The mother was represented by a life-sized puppet, which puppeteers dismantled at the end, abruptly returning the audience to reality.

Separately, Hindustan Times reports on 'Bhirrr…', a Marathi play staged at The Tamaasha Studio in Mumbai, built from unrecorded grindmill songs of women from Abdullat village in Kolhapur district. Devised by Mayuri Ravindra, the play attempts to preserve ovis, short verses sung by women while working, that are passed orally and risk being lost. The production received support from the Niloufer Sagar Alumni Production Grant, which the actor says gave her time to research and rewrite after scrapping an earlier version.

'Bhirrr…' will have further performances pending scheduling, while 'Jhadpe' concluded its initial run.