This young, bubbly and talented actor has carved her niche in the world of theatre. Ira Dubey will be in Bengaluru this Sunday rendering crisp and meticulous dialogues in the play 9 Parts of Desire. If you’ve seen the lady at any of her earlier performances you won’t be surprised to know that she has received formal training in speech and movement development, Shakespeare, Meisner and the Michael Chekhov acting technique at Yale along with other acting theories and has performed in productions like A Midsummer Nights Dream, Othello, The House of Bernarda Alba and Becketts Shorts.
An internationally acclaimed off Broadway one-woman hit that has received multiple awards around the world 9 Parts of Desire details the lives of nine Iraqi women that span a decade between the first and second Gulf wars and the occupation. Talking about her powerful role in the Prime Time Theatre production, directed by Lillete Dubey, that has received standing ovation and accolades in India and abroad, Ira shares, “It’s relevant to the times we live in.
It’s written by Heather Raffo, a half Iraqi and half American woman and is a one woman show; a story of survival, about women going through divorces, love etc and is universal in appeal. I have to hold the audience during this 80-minute performance,” shares Ira of her role where she portrays the lives of a cross-section of Iraqi women: a sexy painter, a radical Communist, a doctor, an exile, wives, mothers, and lovers, through the conflicting aspects of what it means to be a woman in a country overshadowed by war. Her rich monologues transcends time, space and politics.
About her love for Bengaluru, Ira adds, “I have a lot of friends in Bengaluru and meet them whenever I can. I love the energy here. Lynne Fernandez of Nrityagram is my family friend and everytime I come to Bengaluru, I spend time with her. I’ve performed at Ranga Shankara and Jagriti. After Prithvi, my favourite theatre is Jagriti. This time I’m performing for the Inner Wheel Club and have worked hard to get under the skin of my character.”
Ira is also starring in Tennessee Williams’, Glass Menagerie, and has played Portia in Merchant of Venice. The actress who has acted in several films adds, “I’ve done Nora in A Doll’s House. I’ve also completed — Dear Zindagi. where I play Fatima, a costume stylist, who works in Mumbai. She is a modern woman who manages to balance work and family. I met SRK at the launch dinner of the film and he was very humble. He held my hand and said that he liked working with my mom since his theatre days in Delhi with Barry John. I’ve also done an independent feature Shikara, an interesting thriller, directed by Nikhil Allug, where I play the lead role of a Bangladeshi Muslim girl who comes to Mumbai. I like my ethnic bohemian look in the film,” says the talented actress.
