“I had to draw from various theatrical disciplines to play eight characters in Zee Theatre’s ‘Womanly Voices,” says Joy Sengupta

The actor plays these pivotal parts in three powerful stories written by Mahasweta Devi, Gita Mehta and Wajida Tabassum

Zee Theatre packs in three powerful feminine perspectives in its forthcoming teleplay, ‘Womanly Voices.’ The play is directed by well-known actor and theatre veteran Lilette Dubey and can be seen on Airtel Spotlight this week at 2 pm and 6 pm.

The teleplay dramatises three great stories that reveal the depth and scope of some of India’s finest women writers. From Wajida Tabassum’s penetrative, ‘Utran’, to Mahasweta Devi’s riveting and savagely moving ‘Shishu’, to Gita Mehta’s hauntingly poignant tale, ‘The Teacher’s story’, here are three powerful and distinct ‘Womanly Voices’, that go far beyond the hearth and home, and illuminate the world around them with humor, insight and rare compassion.

Joy Sengupta who plays eight, pivotal characters in the teleplay shares, “I belong to a school of acting which is very flexible and not bound by any rigid conventions. So, I accessed the intuitive freedom to merge with different characters and seamlessly transitioned from one role to another. ‘Womanly Voices’ is in the realm of physical, experimental, or avant-garde theatre and also draws from the traditions of folk theatre where most actors play multiple characters at the same time. I drew from all these disciplines and from my own experience with street theatre, to play these characters.”

The play also stars Suchitra Pillai, Pranav Sachdev, Ira Dubey, Deepika Amin and Adit Bhilare.