A theatrical poetry show that decodes female friendship

Beyonce once said, “I love my husband, but it is nothing like a conversation with a woman that understands you. I grow so much from those conversations.” Although men and women complement each other, women thrive on strong relationships with their girlfriends. Undoubtedly, such friendships give them an outlet to share their problems, thoughts and feelings. And it’s proven that the psychology behind strong female friendships is strong.

Two youngsters, Karunya Srinivasan and Nupur Saraswat, have collaborated for a theatrical poetry show which takes a gritty look at female friendships in a pre-woke era and calls upon women to revisit their friendships and re-evaluate their feminism. The show titled Girls Just Wanna Have Friends will be held on March 15 and 16 at CurioPlay, Alwarpet (7.30 pm) and The Spot at i13, Anna Nagar (7 pm) respectively.

“We have taken elements from poetry recitations and theatre and transformed it into a fluid piece that involves dance and music. By involving all these mediums, we realised that we could create something that could uplift women from various walks of life.  The show ties together narratives of women who have sent in stories from their school, college, and professional lives. The show aims at starting conversations along with providing enough satirical commentary. Not just our friends, even acquaintances have shared their stories with us.

‘‘There are all kinds of stories — the kind of friendships that stayed for long, friendships that made and break them, happy stories, sad stories and even nasty stories. We also discuss the competition and strife that exists in each of us that was enabled by patriarchy. We are not preaching but addressing all these issues —by starting a dialogue, we are educating people as well,” says Nupur Saraswat aka The Sanskari Girl, a theatrical poet who uses her words to speak with abandon and rally for causes close to her heart. Her short term goal is to bring Intersectionality and radical kindness in her work.

The artists, Nupur and Karunya, have made sure to touch upon all kinds of female friendships that exist. “It’s not just the friendships that you build at school, college or workplace, but the kind of friendship between a mother and a daughter, friendship two sisters have and so on. We are covering all kinds of female relationships that exist in our society,” says the duo.    

The show aims at starting conversations along with providing enough satirical commentary. So what would be the takeaway for men participants and Nupur says, “Men get to silently observe what female friendships look like, what’s the dynamic and psychology of female friendships irrespective of their (men) existence. If you see, most of the female friendship stories narrated in mainstream mediums like cinema are, ironically, in relation with men. We wanted to narrate a different perspective here.”

Karunya is a multidisciplinary artist — a dancer, writer, artist, performer and expressive artstherapist — and her work involves an intermodal approach that interweaves different art forms as tools for expression and healing.

On March 17, the duo will be conducting a workshop where they deconstruct the conversations they had on March 15 and 16. “The session will use a tested mix of expressive arts and spoken word to unfold a wilful and dynamic artist.”