Shabana's Broken Images to be staged in Hyderabad

Four stalwarts of English language theater in India are all geared up to present a theater treat for Hyderabadis today.
The critically acclaimed play “Broken Images” starring Shabana Azmi, written by Girish Karnad, directed by Alyque Padamsee and produced by Rael Padamsee will be staged in the city as part of the Times Hyderabad Festival. The path-breaking drama has appeared in Hindi (Bikhre’ Bimb) and Kannada (“Odakalu Bimba”) too.
In the English version, Shabana Azmi, the actress par excellence, social activist and firebrand, all rolled in one, will be seen playing two roles on stage at the same time in this one-woman show.
The psychological thriller delves into the mind of a not-so-successful Hindi novelist, Manjula, who suddenly becomes an international sensation when she writes an English novel. The mental conflict haunting Manjula is, whether in opting for the global audience, she has betrayed her own language and identity? Soon, it’s her own “image”, that translates in the play in the form of a virtual Shabana on screen, that reveals to us her psyche and her deepest fears through her conversation with the ‘real’ Shabana. Apart from being a brutal look at the Indian literary establishment, it’s also a compelling story of the strong, primal desire for fame, Touted as India’s first post modernist play, “Broken Images”, is one production that straddles both theater and technology in a stunning story.
Director Alyque Padamsee, talking about this play, said, “Girish Karnad has written a masterpiece about self delusion and phantom images. Two sisters locked in mortal combat. Who will emerge triumphant? Shabana and I entered this maze of truths and half-truths. It was a frightening yet exhilarating experience. In our discussions at rehearsals, we found out more about ourselves than the characters in Girish’s play.”