“In transwomen’s eyes, I see a wisdom that can only come from having to fight for your right to be recognised as female, a raw strength that only comes from unabashedly asserting your right to be feminine in an inhospitable world.” This quote by Julia Serano explains what the play, Colour of Trans 2.0, a play by Panmai, is all about — unabashed, strong in its assertion of right as a human being.
The play was conceived, organised and performed entirely by transgender artistes — two transwomen and a transman. The play, staged on the occasion of Raw.con at the University of Hyderabad, is a narrative of their own lives. The actors managed to reveal the raw experiences that they have had, with their parents, siblings, lovers and society in general. “The stories are from our own lives and we wanted to project the pain we have gone through,” said Living Smile Vidya or Smiley as she prefers to be known.
The three characters are as interesting as their stories. Smiley is a Dalit transwoman, theatre artiste, writer, poet and artist from Trichy, Tamil Nadu. She holds a Masters degree in Linguistics. She also received the Charles Wallace Award in 2013 for excellence in theatre. Angel Glady is a Bahujan transwoman from Tamil Nadu. She studied MA Mass Communication at University of Madras. Gee ImaanSemmalar is a savarna trans activist from Kerala. He holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College and an MA in Arts and Aesthetics from JNU.
Their lives are a struggle for identity and the right to live with dignity. The small skits trace this journey of the three, which is a commentary on the lives of the community in general in India. The play starts with an interesting skit where the three characters are unable to start the play because the trans women are unhappy with their voices. They hate the fact that despite being women, they sound like men. This follows a series of incidents, which shows how India treats transgender people.
The play got a standing ovation from the audience. “I am very happy with the response. We were skeptical as to how people would react as this was the first time we were performing in front of a general audience,” said an excited Angel Gladys. Gee ImaanSemmalar said he did not expect such support from people. “When we staged it in Philadelphia we got a great response. We did not expect it in India. Hyderabad really surprised us,” says Gladys. “HCU is now trying to make the voices of trans-students heard and its great that we performed in the university”, adds Gladys.
