Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

The horror of child abuse
Based on interviews with victims of child abuse, incest in particular, Mahesh Dattani’s script, 30 Days in September (presented by the Visakha Vidyalaya OGA last week at the Taj Samudra), revolved around a complicated mother- daughter relationship.

The complications deepen as the girl, now an adult, attracts the attentions of a man who claims he loves her and wants to marry her. It seems like the perfect happily-ever-after story, at least that’s what her mother thinks. For the girl, Mala (played by Neha Dubey) it is overwhelming, especially as she allows only 30 days for every man she has been with so far.

The “30-day” factor has a history. ‘30 Days in September, April, June and November’, was the song Mala sang as a child. It was the song that her uncle made her sing while he abused her. The song became her escape, her way of shutting out what was happening to her.

Though the script was about hate, betrayal and silence, it also explored the unbearable pain of such an ordeal and the escape routes the victim clings to because that is, in a way, the only means of survival.

Directed by Lilette Dubey (who plays the role of the mother, Shantha) the performance successfully portrayed the mother-daughter conflict in a complex relationship.
The climax of the play was the confrontation among mother, daughter and abuser brought about by the over-eager prospective fiancé Deepak (played by Joy Sengupta).

The irony for Shantha lay in the fact that her daughter’s abuser, her brother, had also been her abuser. Therefore, to accept her daughter’s story, she would have to accept her own.

The play used a technique which interspersed Mala’s sessions with her counsellor, with her story unfolding on stage, taking the audience through the psychological drama, giving an insight into what it was like to be abused, how one reacts to abuse and the healing process. Even as the resolution of the play took place on a seemingly hopeful note, the audience was left feeling that somehow there was no “resolution”.

Watching this play was an experience. But time and place also matter in a production and it sometimes felt almost surreal sitting through soup and fillet of fish after the play. The transparent marquee, fairy lights and screens (although spectacular) only added more distance (it literally affected the audibility factor). In such a setting what should have been serious concerns seemed a little less real and that was a pity. - Ruhanie Perera

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