A production which started at Leicester’s Curve has been presented at India’s leading cultural institution, the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai.
Pink Sari Revolution was originally produced by Curve, Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre and Leeds Playhouse in association with English Touring Theatre. It toured the UK in autumn 2017.
Pink Sari Revolution tells the real story of Sampat Pal, leader of a notorious, working-class, feminist movement the Gulabi Gang. Based in India’s rural Uttar Pradesh province, the gang reportedly numbers over 400,000 members in a part of the world where violence towards women is rife.
The play was adapted for the stage by Indian playwright Purva Naresh, winner of the United Nations Laadli Media Award for her work on gender, from the book of the same name by journalist Amana Fontanella-Khan.
In India, the production was again directed by Curve’s associate director Suba Das.
Speaking about the performance, Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Nikolai Foster said, “we were proud to present Pink Sari Revolution in Leicester, celebrating the courageous work of Sampat Pal and the many thousands of extraordinary women like her.
“Leicester audiences embraced Pal’s story of defiance and making a stand for equality wholeheartedly. It’s humbling that this story has returned home to India where its politic resonated in entirely new, vivid and vital ways. Purva and Amana are trailblazers in their own right and we salute them and thank them for this beautiful and provocative work.”
Pink Sari Revolution was Curve’s first presentation in India. Previous productions which went abroad included Legally Blonde (South Korea), The Witches (Hong Kong) and Grease (Dubai).