A still from Thiru Queer
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Dayamma Ramya, a beloved trans community leader and theatre, was the head chef of the Trans Community Kitchen’s North Madras Centre. Although she did not learn to read and write, she felt on a par with everyone else on the theatre stage when she performed with Kattiyakkari, a marginalised theatre group. “She learnt, mastered and set herself free but passed away. In celebration of her life, the Dayamma Theatre Festival was planned. We intend to celebrate the lives of marginalised trans and queer people. There is going to be record dance, cabaret, gaana born from the streets of Chennai and several theatre performances. This is an ensemble of queer people and cis-allies,” says festival coordinator, Aruvi.
On June 20, the Trans Community Kitchen and Kattiyakari in association with the Alliance Francaise of Madras will see 12 performances with the longest being an hour-long play, Thiru Queer, about the lived experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community, directed by popular trans actor Negha Shahin. Ponni Amman Therukooththu Mandram, a popular troupe from Tiruvallur will be performing, Nalla Thangalum Aravanum, a reimagined therukoothu that discusses myth, memory, and mourning. Gana Vimala, a trans ganaaartiste will also be taking the stage. Aruvi’s own performance, Body/Boundaries, is a frank exploration of trans lives and an erasure of the community’s history. “I am not the first trans person for anything, but I’d like to be the last trans person for somethings,” she says.
A past performance of artiste Sowmiya
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Aruvi adds that a privileged dignity is attributed to some stages in the city. The record dance by artiste Sowndharyagopi and cabaret performance by Banu, that promise joy, shimmer, and euphoric beats, are protests in the form of performance.
The director of the festival, Srijith Sundaram, has been putting the event together for a whole year with coordinators Anish Anto and Aruvi. The event is crowd-funded, just as the Trans Community Kitchen is. “It is imperative for us to keep the event free, as we want a thriving marginalised working class population not just on stage but also in the audience,” Aruvi says.
Dayamma Theatre Festival is on June 20 at Alliance Francaise of Madras, Nungambakkam from 5pm. Entry is free.
Published – June 18, 2025 04:32 pm IST