A stage play on nurse Aruna Shaunbag's life

Prominent stage personality LushinDubey's next production is based on journalist Pinki Virani's book about Indian nurse Aruna Shanbug, who died after living in a vegetative state for 42 years as a result of sexual assault.

The play will be staged in September. Virani's book is titled Aruna's Story: The True Account of a Rape and its Aftermath. 66-year-old Aruna, who became the face of the debate on euthanasia in India, passed away in May this year.

"You have to be a little fearless in tackling the issues when you take to the stage. This will be my collaboration with Pinki Virani - a marriage between literary work and performing arts," Lushin told PTI.

The actress-director, whose successful Hindi-English solo play Untitled took her to the US, UK and other countries, was in the city to stage the production in the Monologue theatre festival,

"Untitled", is directed and scripted by Arvind Gaur, where all of Lushin's co-actors are puppets.

She said it is an experimental piece of work inspired by eminent Rajasthani writer Vijay Dan Detha's Nyari Nyari Maryada and Dario Fo's Medea, which are all aimed at turning the table on man, ubiquitous master "who relentlessly treat his woman as 'kathputlis' through ages".

"The use of puppets as co-actors was for two reasons: To remind how women are treated as puppets in their in-laws' houses and also to break the boredom of narration through set-props," she explained.

Lushin said though the story of Untitled dated back to the feudal era, it was relevant for women of all ages.

Usha Ganguly, one of the leading exponents of Hindi theatre in the country, said, "Lushin Dubey has chosen a vibrant and communicative form."

- PTI