Girls, Get On Stage! — is an initiative by Hina Siddiqui and Open Space that hopes to create more material for women and by women on stage

Did you know that theatre, believed to be one of the most progressive mediums vis-a-vis films and TV, has seen 70 per cent of stage time devoted to men? That if we look at the history of theatre, majority of the content that has been staged, has been male-centric? Not that we don’t see women, we surely do, but it’s the woman’s perspective that’s often found missing.

Lest this history of inequality in this powerful medium, as in life, is carried unchecked into the future, there needs to be a conscious effort for course correction. Theatremaker Hina Siddiqui and Open Space are coming together to take a small step towards that through their workshop Girls, Get On Stage!

To be conducted over four weekends, for four hours each day, through September, the workshop aims to create material which will show women as being more than just a prop or pretty face on stage. “Women, more often than not, have been relegated to domestic roles on stage. We are trying to look at stories that see women beyond their sexuality,” says Neha Mathrani, programme officer, Open Space.

For Hina, the reasons to conduct this workshop are more personal. “Gender has always been a subject very close to my heart. My concern about lack of women on stage was thrown in sharp focus when I was looking for a powerful female lead for my play and couldn’t find anyone who could take ownership of that character,” she explains. But of course, finding her heroine, is not the only short-term possibility Hina is working towards, through this programme.

What she really wants the workshop to achieve is a free, non-intimidating space for women to share their real stories. “Women often end up thinking of their problems as trivial, as not being worth talking about. In reality, however, these individual problems might just be a part of the larger issue of gender inequality in our society,” she says, also pointing out, “What adds to their silence is the fact that most of their responses are considered to be ‘emotional’, and therefore somehow less serious. It is simply not fair to ask them to shut up.”

The freedom to express, to talk about the real issues women face in their lives, will be the starting point of the workshop. “We hope to create a space that encourages them to talk freely, without the fear of being judged,” says Neha. “The effort, then, will be to find a way to convert these real stories into stagable format,” adds Hina. The workshop will end with a performance of the material written and rehearsed over the weeks. And don’t worry, you don’t need to have any prior experience of theatre in order to be a participant. All you need to have is an open mind (and age above 16 years, of course!). “The rest is manageable,” believes Hina. Bring it on then, girls!