Maya's theatre journey started with street theatre in the late 1970's with Theatre Union, a group she co-founded. After making stage performances for several years, she returned to this form, but this time, solo. Since 2012, she has been responding to events and controversial issues that have engaged women and other sections of society who are taken up with the struggle for rights.
Om Swaha
Dafa No. 180
Walk
RTI
Not In My Name
Artists Unite!
Shaheen Bagh
The Preamble
Farmers Strike
Om Swaha
year
1979
In the late 1970s, the increasing number of incidents of deaths arising from dowry demands and harassment of the wife and her family were hitting headlines in the daily newspapers in Delhi. Some women's organisations got together and requested Maya to create a street play to raise awareness among the public. Theatre director, Anuradha Kapur was invited and together, they set up improvisations with the women activists and male sympathisers who joined in. They scripted, directed and took on multiple roles in OM SWAHA, a play created around a real-life story. The play travelled to several cities and towns in India and was translated into 13 Indian languages.
