Since 1993, when Maya made her first solo, she has created different kinds of productions ranging from dance theatre to cross media performances and comedy. She is her own director and the centre piece of her making process is improvisation. Over the years, she has invited other artists – musicians, film makers, light and designers to improvise with her to create shows. While some productions have been adaptations of short stories, most have been inspired by events in India. There’s generally a strong social and political thread that runs through the content of her shows. Alongside, Kathakali – which she trained in for several years - seems to enter via various doors in creating a contemporary language of theatre. Maya has been commissioned by festivals both in India and abroad to create performances.
Loose Woman
The-Non-Stop-Feel-Good-Show
Ravanama
Quality Street
Are You Home Lady Macbeth?
Hand Over Fist
Heads Are Meant For Walking Into
Departures
The Job
Khol Do
Loose Woman
The-Non-Stop-Feel-Good-Show
Ravanama
Quality Street
Are You Home Lady Macbeth?
Hand Over Fist
Heads Are Meant For Walking Into
Departures
The Job
Khol Do
year
1993
Khol Do’ is inspired by a short story by Saadat Hasan Manto. It is set in the riots of 1946 - 47 that finally led to the breakup of India and the creation of Pakistan.
A father has lost his daughter somewhere in the crowds of fleeing people on a railway platform. All he has left of her is her veil.
For him the search for his daughter is so intense, so deep that he begins to find her, bit by bit, in his own body - In the beauty of dance, where lovers find each other.
This is a piece created exclusively in movement, with no words. The body expresses, in fragments, the atmosphere on the railway platform, the inner anxiety of the father, the search, the daughter, the eight men, the rape, and finally a still portrait of the daughter - a girl, lost in the crowd, one among us.
