Black Lilies : a one act play

Playwright, theatre director, journalist (formerly Deputy Editor, The Hindu, now freelance writer and translator), Dr Gowri Ramnarayan’s work is a rare amalgam of aesthetics and scholarship. As a musician, she was vocal accompanist to the legendary musician MS Subbulakshmi for 16 years.

As inhouse playwright and Artistic Director, JustUs Repertory, Dr Ramnarayan uses modern techniques to evolve theatre performances steeped in Indian culture – always in a global context. Her multi-genre texts with music, dance and the visual arts, explore the weight of historical, political and literary pasts, to represent the complexities of modern life. Her plays have been staged in major Indian cities and national festivals, and toured the US, UK and South Asia.

Her play Dark Horse won two national awards, while Night’s End was selected for dramatized reading by Swedish actors at a playwrights’ conference in Stockholm (2013). Night’s End was also commissioned for a week’s run at Soho Theatre, London (2017). She received the Nataka Choodamani Award for excellence in theatre from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai.

Dr Ramnarayan has authored children’s books (Abu’s World, Abu’s World Again) a biography of MS Subbulakshmi (MS & Radha), profiles of iconic Indian artists (Past Forward OUP). Her Dark Horse & Other Plays anthologises her original plays in English.

She has translated two plays of the Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar (OUP), and Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Selected Short Stories (Penguin), his novel The Sound of Waves (Hachette India), Kalki Krishnamurthy: His Life and Times (Kalki Biography Project). and his 6 volume magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan (Penguin India).

The Sound of Waves has received the publisher’s award for Best Translation (2023) from The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

Ramnarayan has given talks on philosophy, literature, theatre and the performing arts. She has served as Fipresci Jury member at international film festivals in Europe. She is Chairperson, Rukmini Devi Arundale Trust, Senior Associate Editor, Sruti magazine and Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, India.

Yohan Chacko has been a part of Chennai theatre since 2009, donning diverse roles in over 80 productions, notably as Jean Valjean (Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables), Will Shakespeare (Shakespeare in Love, Marc Newman), Mohammad bin Tughlaq (Tughlaq, Girish Karnad) and Arun Kolatkar (Dark Horse, Gowri Ramnarayan). He has acted in three full length feature films – An Inspector Calls, A Burglar’s Christmas and Vanangaan.

He relishes his role as a singer who also plays several musical instruments and has more than a million views for his parody songs on YouTube (South of India, I am a Malayalee and Land of Lungi).

Yohan is a committee member of The Madras Players – the oldest amateur English theatre society in India, and a Governing Council member of the theatre company Mellow Circle. He also happens to be a dentist and a professor at the Asan Memorial Dental College.

ACTOR, DANCER (Bharatanatyam & Contemporary), Pilates Instructor

Aarabi started her early training in Bharatnatyam as a child and is a disciple of the Narasimhacharis at Kalasamarpana. She has been a soloist and ensemble member in several dance drama productions and lecdems choreographed and conducted by the Narasimhacharis.

She was introduced to contemporary performance practices in college. After a Masters degree in contemporary performance studies in the UK, Aarabi returned to India to pursue dance full time. She continues to be a dancer in Padmini Chettur’s contemporary dance company and has performed with it in several international venues in Europe. She also choreographs her own work that reflects her preoccupations as a performing artist in today’s world.

Aarabi has been part of JustUs Repertory for almost two decades now and has worked on various productions both as lead actor and as a member of the stage design and tech crew.

Aarabi is also a Pilates and dance technique instructor.

It is a pleasure to introduce the next important Indian dramatist: Gowri Ramnarayan… Her achievement lies in liberating the essence of humanity. And she does this delicately, like a poet.

– The Telegraph

Art stands in opposition to politics. Here shouting is seen for what it is – the absence of substance. Gowri Ramnarayan’s play (Black Lilies) had no need to shout because it had so much to say.

– The Mumbai Mirror

Gowri has taste, music and literary sensibility to highlight how individuals get torn apart by political chaos. The spectators to a man remain one with them, spellbound.

– The Times of India

Despite strong performances by everyone, the script remains the biggest asset – depicting pain without melodrama, giving lessons without preaching.

– The New Indian Express