Me and My Plays

Mahesh Dattani's work has shaped contemporary English theatre in India over the past twenty-five years boldly exploring themes like homosexuality religious fanaticism child sexual abuse and gender bias while also raising the bar for theatrical innovation. In Me and My Plays he eloquently reflects on the highs and lows of surviving in a system largely indifferent to professional theatre. Included in this edition are where did I leave my purdah? Which explores the life and travails of Nazia a feisty actress now in her eighties who is forced to confront her past demons when she attempts to stage a comeback and the big fat city a black comedy about the residents of an apartment complex in Mumbai who unwittingly become accomplices to a murder. Intense and hard-hitting both plays deal with the lies that simmer beneath the surface of our daily lives. About the Author Mahesh Dattani is a playwright screen writer film-maker and stage director with several scripts and productions to his credit. For his writing he was honored with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998. He has directed and scripted critically acclaimed films like Mango Soufflé and Morning Raga. The script of Morning Raga has been archived by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences USA. His screenplays along with his stage plays have been published by Penguin. Dattani is also a workshop facilitator for several writing and acting courses having conducted workshops in many parts of the world most notably at the Portland State University in Oregon USA. He has collaborated with international theatre companies like Border Crossings most recently in Shanghai with Chinese Swedish and English actors. He also writes scripts for BBC Radio 4.