A woman, a man, and a story

He is an actor on stage. She is also an actor. She’s found his pictures and tries to impersonate him. He, on the other hand, impersonates renowned women on stage. She’s fascinated. He’s fascinating. They are separated by 100 years.

This is a story of a

Lady F

: an actor, who discovers her great grandfather – a female impersonator and actor in 19th century

Marathi theatre

. His most famous role was in

Bhau Bandki

that of Lady Anandi –

Anandibai Peshwa

, who changed the alphabets in the letter and thereby changed the course of the history of Maratha dynasty.

Lady Anandi is a documentary theatre performance by Anuja Ghosalkar. The Bengaluru-based actor-writer-director explores the female identity in the archives of her great grandfather Madhavrao Tipnis. “A lot of research went into the story, which is told using photographs, anecdotes and a whole lot of imagination,” explains Anuja.

Lady Anandi has been performed as a work-in-progress across India and debuted in Sweden. It brings together elements like performance, history, early photography and gender. “The seeds of this idea were sown during two long and in-depth interactions with the

Goethe Institut

residents while the final text was written during a month-long residency at Art Lab Gnesta, Sweden,” informs Anuja.

Anuja adds that the play is presented in a way that it captures the moment when the research ends and the performance begins. “This is an unfinished piece— created as an active exploration that evolves with its audience. It aims to draw the audience’s attention to the process of making work rather than presenting a finished product. Hence the Q’n’A session at the end of the show is an integral part of the performance,” she adds.