A. Mangai is the pseudonym of Dr. V. Padma who retired as Associate Professor in English from Stella Maris College, Chennai. She has been actively engaged in Tamil theatre as an actor, Director and Playwright for almost three decades. She hopes that her academic, activist and artistic selves can find a vibrant intersection. Her fields of interest are theatre, gender and translation studies.
She delivered a talk titled - "Doing Theatre and M(e)inding Law in India - Women ' s movements Mobilising Law in Independent India". The entire discussion was in connecting three aspects i.e., Theatre, Gender and Law. She started her presentation quoting Boal “Theatre is, in itself, one of the ways in which political activity can be conducted” Legislative Theatre (20). She further started discussing that the court halls also has an theatrical set up. She then discussed upon the theatrical works which was written on dowry prohibition and against rape. She also quoted some of the famous judgements like the Mathura rape case and Vishaka and discussed the role theatre in discussing gender discrimination.
She concluded again quoting Boal “To resist, it is not enough to say no; it is necessary to desire”. (Boal, Aesthetics of the Oppressed)”.This report has not done justice to the event at all. It has only introduced it not reported on the whole event.
