The only way US-based actress Poorna Jagannathan –– that scorcher from Delhi Belly, last seen in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani –– could respond to the Delhi gang rape was through theatre. She flew down celebrated playwright and director Yael Farber and the two of them started planning a testimonial play highlighting women’s plight in the face of sexual violence in India. Nirbhaya premiered in Edinburgh to standing ovations. And now Poorna, also the co-producer of the play, and the Nirbhaya team are collecting money through the Kickstarter website to do an India tour. t2 talked to Poorna about the play.

When you brought Yael Farber down to India after the Delhi rape, did you always have a play in mind? What were you thinking at that point of time?

Theatre is the most powerful and transformative medium for me –– and I absolutely envisioned a theatrical response to the Delhi gang rape and death when I reached out to Yael. You can tell a story like no other through theatre and more importantly, you can listen to a story like no other in theatre. And I could see that after every one of our performances in Edinburgh. There were so many people who have told me that they could find a way to distance themselves saying “it’s just a film” or “that documentary happened somewhere else”, but when they walked out of our play, that guard, that filter got broken. There was nothing to hide behind as an audience member –– what you were seeing on stage just a few feet away from you were the real stories of real people and that is what the transformative power of theatre is. There were people in the audience who fainted, there were men who said they had never cried before, sobbing like babies. Something deep opened up in people who saw this play.

Why did you think of Yael for this project?

I had seen Amajuba, a testimonial play of Yael’s, seven years back and it was one of those plays that had left an indelible mark on me. I see a lot of theatre and most plays leave me a little ‘meh’. But Yael’s Amajuba left me breathless. I remember the few seconds between when the play ended and the standing ovation –– those few seconds I have never experienced in my life. It was sacred. What I witnessed was truly transformative theatre. Amajuba too was a testimonial –– five actors telling the audience about their real lives and how it was to grow up in apartheid South Africa. Yael spun their stories with such theatricality and skill that the audience felt one with the storytellers. It was truth told in the most potent form I had ever seen.

When the girl died, my first impulse was to reach out to Yael. At that time, it seemed that everywhere in India, women were breaking their silence on the routine sexual violence they experience. It was a time when men and women were saying: “Enough is enough”. I knew from Yael’s previous work she would be able to powerfully harness this precious moment in time. I began crafting a message to Yael but even before I sent it, she reached out. She was as devastated by the rape and when we started talking, she was on fire about the possibility of creating work as a response to it.

You didn’t consider any Indian theatre director?

We have amazing ones here but testimonial theatre is very particular and requires a certain expertise and skill. It is extremely powerful but very delicate and tricky. You are dealing with real stories. What we are putting on stage is our own personal stories –– we are not playing characters or channeling someone else’s stories. Yael’s genius lies in the fact that she can weave stories together and use the medium of theatre to make them as potent as possible. In most of our stories, the violence is symbolic yet powerful because of just that.

How was the play written? Based on newspaper reports or did you do your own research?

I put a workshop together in February with seven theatre and film actresses and got Yael down to conduct a month-long workshop in Mumbai. That’s when we started exploring what the play might look like. Soon after that, Assembly Festival, one of the biggest producers at the Edinburgh Fringe, came on board as producers for Nirbhaya and everything was fast-tracked for an August 1 opening.

The seven actors comprise the extraordinary ensemble cast of Nirbhaya. Five of these artistes share their own true testimonies; the remaining two performers evoke the key people, the events of the night of December 16 and what followed in its wake.

At a deeply personal level, the private testimonies shared are a profound gesture of breaking the silence that has been culturally engendered as a response to sexual violence around the world. Each artiste steps forward to tell the events of their own experiences of sexual and gender-based violence. These testimonies include dowry bride burning, child abuse, marital rape, gang rape as well as the daily iniquities of sexual harassment on public transport and in the streets of urban India.

Triggered by the inciting incident of the gang rape and death, five actresses break their own silence, thereby inspiring the audience, their witnesses, to do the same. By refusing to remain silent any longer, each testimony challenges the core belief prevalent in so many societies that sexual violence is the fault of the victim. The loss of honour, the resulting shame belongs to the perpetrator. Yael weaves the girl’s story within these personal testimonies to create a piece of theatre that is as poetic as it is powerful. The result is transformational political theatre.

A moment from Nirbhaya. Picture: William Burdett Coutts

How can Nirbhaya transform members of the audience?

Ultimately, Nirbhaya is a play that challenges the notion that the survivor must hold the shame versus the perpetrator. It’s a play that challenges the notion that silence is better than speaking out. It’s a play that challenges the way things have been done. Nirbhaya speaks the unspeakable but in doing so, simply tells the truth and lifts the veil. That act alone is a protest against the status quo; against the way things have been done. This is the main reason why Nirbhaya’s message is applicable to anywhere in the world.

What was the opening night like, in Edinburgh?

Magical and powerful. The play got a resounding standing ovation and then all these people were waiting for us outside, wanting to meet us, share their stories or find out how they could be part of the solution.

What kind of audiences have come to watch the play? Have Indians abroad shown an interest?

Let me tell you, it’s a great feeling to have Indians in the audience. Every day, we looked forward to that. We previewed the show in London for six performances before Edinburgh and night after night, the Indians in the audience grew as word spread about the play. This show is universal because sexual violence is universal, but because we use the Delhi story as a catalyst, the wound hits deep for an Indian audience. The fringe festival attracts an international audience –– people who love the arts and theatre. We had so many diverse people watch our show including performers from other shows.

And now Nirbhaya surely needs to come to India...

The protest started here. We rose up and said: “Enough is enough.” That is the spirit the play captures and hopes to keep communicating. We have to keep galvanising if we really do want to make a dent on the horrific amount of sexual violence that plagues our country. And Nirbhaya needs to go around the world, I cannot think of a single place that doesn’t need it.

Do you hope to turn this play into a movement?

Absolutely. But it’s not for me or anyone else involved with the production to necessarily lead that. Our job as artistes is to be able to inspire and move the audience. We have to let people receive the message and make it their own. When we premiered the play in Edinburgh, that’s exactly what happened. The audience members galvanised into action. They broke their own silences, they looked for, and continue to look for, ways to be part of the solution.

That said, we do have support structures in place to try and amplify our message. Each show will be followed by post-show discussions, workshops and support. Audiences after Edinburgh had nowhere to go to; we want to make sure we give them that in India.