Schoolgirls and secretaries, farmers and influencers, pregnant wives and pissed-off divorcees…
Winner of the 2023 Adishakti Theatriculate Fellowship, 8 is a solo dance-theatre performance reimagining the classical Indian archetypes of the ashta nayika (eight heroines) as women of our times. Watch 8 women navigate relationships with their lovers in today’s diverse India.
An exciting smash-up of hip hop theatre and baithak abhinaya, this multilingual production features an original soundtrack by award-winning musicians described by the Hindustan Times as “strikingly beautiful”.
Press mentions:
“Deepa D, winner of Adishakti’s Theatriculate Fellowship, brought together contemporary stories of women from different strata of society in 8, setting them against a traditional framework. The music created for this play by Bindhumalini Narayanswamy, Gurupriya Athreya, Charu Hariharan and Deepika Karthik Kumar was strikingly beautiful.”
— Remembering Veenapani Festival (RVF), 2024 by Charumathi Supraja in The Hindustan Times, 25th April, 2024
Credits:
Producer: Deep Design
Script, Design and Performance: Deepa D.
Vocals and Composition: Bindhumalini, Charu Hariharan, Deepika Karthik Kumar, Gurupriya Atreya
Music Arrangement and Production: Vinayak Netke with Charu Hariharan and Hitesh Dhutia
Technical Direction: Niranjan Gokhale
Production and House Management: Leslie Andrews David
Original Lyrics: Bilqis Zafirul Hasan, Deepika Karthik Kumar, Kamala Das, Meenal Hajratwala, Muddupalani, Panchaphula Nandurekar, Vijayaraja Mallika
Traditional Lyrics Sources: Bali Gujar, Gangubai Chunchalwad, Hirabai Gynandev Chavan, Hira Sawant, Indubai Shedge, Lakshmi Bhilare, Malini Awasthi, Mukta Varat, Radha Sakpal, Saru Damle, Shahu Kamble, Sita Pimple, Sushma Pawar
Translations: Ann Grodzins Gold, Asha Ogale, Asha Singh, Balakrishnan Gayathri Raghavan, Charu Hariharan, Deeba Zafir, Deepa D., Deepika Karthik Kumar, Gautam Pemmaraju, Jitendra Maid, Maitreyee Kulkarni, Naghma Zafir, P. Vijaya Kumar, Rajani Khaladkar
Sound Engineering: Charu Hariharan, Maniratnam, Nalini Vittobane, Shriraman Chandrasekhar, Sidney Alberts, Vinayak Netke
Soundtrack Mixing and Mastering: Vinayak Netke
Projections Design: Percival Crasto
Additional Costumes: Sandhya Raman
Dramaturgical Assistance: Jin-Ming Lai
ADHD Coaching: Jennie Jordan
Poster Photography: Apoorva Saptarshi
Special Thanks: Anuja Sunny Shah, Anuradha Mukherjee, Armaity Mevawalla, Ashok Chakradhar, Bhoju Ram Gujar, Bhushan Koregaonkar, Deepthi Subburaj, Dhanak Satrangi, Faezeh Jalali, The Grindmill Project, Jaisurya Das and the Estate of Kamala Das, Kiran Khankhoje, Megha Khanna, Nimmy Raphel, Nisaa Gujar, Oroon Das, Parna Pethe, Prabha Nair, Sabiha Khan, Shanthini Senthil Kumar, Sonal Kharade, Sowmyaa Bharadwaj, Teertha Raj, Teresa Khanna and Zeenat Khan