Abstract
Mahesh Dattani, is an avant-garde Indian English dramatist known for his radical and unconventional dramatic themes. His plays are characterized by an extremely sensitive temperament that delves into the intricacies of the human nature and strives to expose the hypocrisy of the urban life and society. This paper discusses his play The Girl Who Touched the Stars as a quest for a lost identity. In doing so, the paper sheds light upon the underlying themes of gender discrimination, misogyny and role-playing that the playwright uses in this play to show how much these evils are rampant even amongst the educated classes of the society. Specifically, the paper explores the deconstruction of identity of the protagonist as employed by the playwright and examines the implications this technique has on the narrative of the play. The interconnection between the role-playing and the inherent theme of gender discrimination is also analyzed in order to see how these elements complement each other. Also, the paper comments on the efficacy of radio drama as a medium for handling a sensitive theme like this.
Highlights
The Girl Who Touched the Stars is a radio play inspired by the life of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman in outer space
Called the audio drama, audio play, radio play or Radio Theatre is a form of theatre based entirely on acoustic performance and is played on radio or published on audio media
It is often said that radio drama paradoxically gives us the best pictures
Summary
The Girl Who Touched the Stars is a radio play inspired by the life of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman in outer space. Dattani in this play takes up the issue of identity as a social construct in relation to gender/sexual orientation as he depicts its implications on the psychology of the protagonist Bhavna and how she copes with the reality by assuming a different identity.
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