South Asian Theatre Mela 2023
Date :- 24th and 25th August
Time :- 7:30 pm
Total runtime 2.00 hrs with 15 minutes interval in between
Venue :- Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
A celebration in South Asian style, transcending cultural and geographical boundaries.
Nautanki endeavours to provide a common performing platform, encouraging a cross-cultural exchange and community engagement. Theatre Mela is a homegrown concept of reimagining grassroots South Asian Theatre groups that operate in the community spaces in NSW. This flagship project is conceived and established and developed in Parramatta by Nautanki Theatre in partnership with Riverside Theatre since 2016.
Both plays are presented back-to-back each night with a 15-minute interval in between. There will be a Q&A session on Friday.
AROMATIC HANDS (KAI MANAM)
A prolific story writer decides to try his hands in writing a cookery book. He sends through a manuscript to a leading Publishing house. Though the publishing group is confident that the book will sell due to the popularity of the Author, as a precautionary measure expresses their intention to run it past a leading chef before approving to print. The chef points out a flaw in one dish. The publishing house suggests having the dish cooked by both the recipes and decides the result. The Chef sees this as an insult and suggests getting anyone from the streets to cook based on his recipe and get a Master Chef to cook as per the writer’s recipe. Who are the two people that come to cook the dish, which recipe wins over and why forms the crux of the story.
Writer & Director
NK Srinivasan (Srini)
Actors
Akshanth Balasubramanian,
Akash Venkatraman,
Pavan Prasad, Prem Hari,
Avanthika Brahadesh,
Aditi Sriram,
Nethra Srinivasan,
Sriman Nadamuni,
Gayathri Srinivasan
Presented by
Sydney Nadaga Priya
NARAINI
After the abolition of slavery, the British and other European colonies turned to British-occupied India for bonded labor to replenish labor shortages in the existing and new colonies. They masqueraded this bonded labor as Indian Indenture System, now known as the Girmit system. From 1828 to 1916, approximately 1.2 million young Indian men and women were transported to some 20 colonies for cheap labor and other exploitation.
Young Naraini and her husband Krishna were transported from their home in Tamil Nādu, India to the British-annexed Australian colony of Fiji in 1910. A pregnant Naraini refused to submit to the brutalities of the Australian supervisor Bloomfield. What happened to Naraini?
How this story signifies the abolition of the bonded labour system. Who paid the price?
Writer & Director
Dr. Satish Rai
Story research by
Dr. Satish Rai
Actors
Andrew Marriott,
Brinda Pandya,
Chris Pali,
Eswali Nadan,
Ikky Khan,
Joseph Thomas,
Kiranpreet Singh Kohli,
Nitesh Narayan,
Parmeshwor Parajuli,
Rajkumar Ramtuhal,
Presented by
Surya Khan
