This theatre festival celebrates Tamil theatre personality A Mangai and her works in feminism

Tamil theatre personality Mangai discusses her career, activism, and upcoming theatre festival in a 15-minute conversation.

A Mangai says she only has 15 minutes for a conversation.

The prominent Tamil theatre personality who has written, directed and starred in several plays; authored a book; and been an activist for years now, says that she is pressed for time because she is busy writing the closing speech for Kulavai 2025, a two-day theatre festival on June 8 and 9 in association with Marappachi, her theatre group , and the Alliance Française of Madras.

At the event, one will watch excerpts of productions she has created, besides two full-length plays. They will speak of Sri Lanka, Palestine, feminism, queerness, survival, liberation and the consistent, palpable poignancy through it all. Some plays that will be staged include Avvai, Stree Parvam and Pani Thee.

Over her career spanning 40 years, Mangai has chosen to speak of violence in the realm of caste, class, sexuality and gender. Having collaborated with a remarkable number of people across social structures, the theatre personality jumps from incidents, her origin stories, personalities she has encountered, and progressive philosophies, over call. “My eyes are tearing up every time I think of the journey. It is the small things,” she says with a light shake in her voice, as she speaks of this speech that needs writing. Rapidly though, she gains composure and tells us about why her long-term collaborators pitched this retrospective to celebrate her work.

Most people who are associated with Mangai, including the likes of her lighting artiste M Surendar, have worked with her for a minimum of 15 years. To him, celebrating Mangai seems obvious. “Nobody has brought in as many women artistes on stage or subverted the Mahabharata or other religious texts with a feminist lens like she has in Tamil. She has shared these interesting stories with audiences,” he says.

Mangai instead, believes that those who have worked with her have found tremendous space for collaboration with other artistes like Therukoothu dancers, academics, film personalities and artists. That is why this retrospective has been created. “I do not see it as a nostalgic gloating celebration. Well, yes, it’s a celebration, but it’s also a reflection of where that generation wants to be today. I’m just a figurehead,” she says.

Mangai entered the world of theatre back in the 1980s through the Chennai Kalai Kuzhu. She aligned with the progressive left and subsequently, the women’s movement. Over the years, she has travelled to several districts in Tamil Nadu, taking feminism to the masses through performance art. “I knew that there was one enemy and I had to fight. But then I think I woke up quite early. By 1992, Voicing Silence (another troupe) was formed,” she says. Here, they fought for 50% representation of women “at least on stage,” she adds.