THEATRE FOR A CAUSE
In aid of HelpAge India's Leh Relief work Hungry Heart Festival supported by Sakshi and Lakshya Foundation staged a rip-roaring comedy "45-35-55" on September 5, 2010, at the India Habitat Centre (Delhi), starring theatre veterans Smita Bharti, Sohaila Kapur & Aparajita Basu. The play supported HelpAge India's efforts to raise funds for the victims of the Leh disaster. The HelpAge team in Leh is working hard providing immediate medical relief through equipped mobile health vans complete with doctors & medicines and is also looking at relief measures to help the victims deal with the harsh cold winters.
For more details on the situation at Leh, click here:
ABOUT THE PLAY
This endearing tale goes into the depths of the choices made by three women many years ago. A rip-roaring comedy, bringing with it a twinge of nostalgia, it delves into the lives of two ageing sisters, steeped in their routines, who come into property and decide to live together, under one roof, not a very wise decision, it seems. As diehard beliefs collide with age old habits, they enter into a distinct war zone. The plot is further complicated with the entry of a young career woman, who like a whirlwind, blows away cobwebs of manipulative habits, beliefs, ideologies, nurtured over a lifetime; bringing out their vulnerabilities, forcing them to face the skeletons in their closet.
The repartees are quick witted and endearing. The everyday interactions are laced with humour as the sisters prance around each other discussing rules, regulations, morality, sexuality, love, hate and subterfuge. The play is peppered with twists and intrigues, and interspersed with bollywood songs and foot tapping music.
Scriptwriter & Director - Smita Bharti
Smita Bharti is multifaceted, being a playwright, actor, director, creative writer, who has acted in, directed, written, and translated more than 27 plays and books in the last decade.
Most of her performance work is in colloquial English and is informed by direct experiential grassroots equality and rights based issues. Extremely sensitive and with a zest to help those less privileged, her association with HelpAge started in 2008 to help with HelpAge India's Bihar Flood Relief work.
She is the cofounder of Hungry Heart Festival, along with Monica Bhasin and veteran actor, writer cum director Sohaila Kapur also film maker Shekhar Kapur's sister. Hungry Heart is a New Delhi based initiative that promotes theatre, filmmaking and the visual arts, empowering creative professionals to turn their visions into realities, an arts based organization.
