A team of around 170 Kudumbashree members will perform plays and sangeet-dance programs as part of the Stree Paksha Kalajatha across the state for 10 days from March 8, International Women’s Day.
A team of around 170 Kudumbashree members will perform plays and sangeet-dance programs as part of the Stree Paksha Kalajatha across the state for 10 days from March 8, International Women’s Day.
Kerala’s successful women empowerment model Kudumbashree is on another mission for gender justice. It has formed a community theater to campaign for social justice, equality and sustainable development.
A team of around 170 Kudumbashree members will perform plays and sangeet-dance programs as part of Stree Paksha Kalajatha at various stages across the state for 10 days from March 8, International Women’s Day. They will perform three plays and two dance-music programs.
“The actors are women who work in the fields and do daily wages. They have no previous theater or stage experience. They may not have technical perfection in their performances. But their firm conviction for gender justice has brought them to stages across the state. takes in,” says Sreeja Arangottukra, one of the five trainers. Karivellur Murali, Shailaja Anbu, Rafiq Mangalassery, and Sudhi Inspection are the other trainers.
Final rehearsals for plays and music-dance programs are underway at Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), Mulangunnathukavu, Thrissur. Three master trainers from each district are participating in the rehearsal camp.
Kaljatha addresses issues like dowry, rising rates of violence, gender discrimination, social status of women and equality.
Sindhu V, State Program Manager of Kudumbashree Gender Wing says that these 42 women to be trained here will go to their respective districts and train a group of 12 women.
“We have a Rangashree group in each district to organize cultural programmes. The members of the Rangashree group will perform plays and sangeet-dance programs in the Kalajathas of each district,” she says.
After the Masters training program at KILA, regional theater camps will be organized at Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode from February 28 to March 6.
The Kalajatha will start from Kozhikode on March 8. Over the next 10 days, Kudumbashree activists will organize events across the state – five demonstrations in each district.