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WePushTheSky is a show with one actor, where the audience gets to join in. It is about problems in our world today. It mixes food, music, storytelling, myths and history. It has personal and community stories. It adds stories and songs from the Karbala and the Ramayana.

The play makes us think about how our past shapes our hopes for the future. Countries and people are arguing more and more about important issues around the world—this creates more divisions and conflicts. The play talks about how this can make us gain, lose or keep friends.

The show is written and performed by Nisha Abdulla, and directed by Ujwala Rao. It focuses on why people, especially women, must come together and fight unfairness. This can then fight against hate. If we want to really support others, we must listen.

The play was shown all around India, where it was well-liked. It was performed at the Feminist Theatre Festival in Jenin, Occupied Palestine. It will also be shown in Bangkok, Thailand. The event is the 15th Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum.

… part history lesson, part culinary exploration, and part feminist fable

— Karthik Ranganathan, Citizen Matters

The play is a triumph of storytelling and is exceptionally brave..

—Venkat Srinivasan, Sabrang India

WePushTheSky is an interactive solo performance that weaves together food, song, story, myth, and history. Where personal stories meet community histories, survival stories of the Karbala entwine with songs of the Ramayana, and anecdotes from the past confront desires about the future. A play that reflects on an urgent social reality of our present times—friendships that have been lost, gained, or have endured amidst increasing shrill political rhetoric across the world.

Written and performed by Nisha Abdulla and directed by Ujwala Rao, WePushTheSky centres friendship and feminist solidarities as an antidote to the politics of hate. The play invites the audience to listen deeply to another's reality and elevates listening to the act of an assertive ally. WePushTheSky has toured widely to warm receptions in India, performed at the Feminist Theatre Festival in Jenin, Occupied Palestine, and has been invited to perform at the 15th Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

There will be a dialogue with the artists after each performance, with speech to text interpretation available upon request for the dialogue on 16 January 2025. Please email your request to info@singaporefringe.com by 6 December 2024.

Artist Statement

In India and across the world, a deeply divisive political rhetoric has been mined for political power. Relationships have frayed, friendships have been lost, ideological battle lines have been redrawn. Into this cauldron of bodies on the brink enters WePushTheSky, a play that deals with the impact of the politics of polarisation on matters of faith, friendship, and feminist solidarities. In a world that incentivises the echo chamber, the play invites people to listen to those whose lives are wholly different. It elevates listening to a political act of subversion that pushes back the divisiveness, where the listening body itself becomes a site of active political resistance.

Artist Statement

In India and around the world, some politicians use speeches that divide people. They do so to gain power. This hurts relationships. It makes us lose friends. People turn against each other, because they feel too different.

WePushTheSky shows how this affects our faith, friendships, and support for women's rights.

These days, people mostly hear opinions they agree with. The play asks us to listen to people with very different lives. It highlights listening as a powerful action. It can fight division, and bring people together.

Download artist biographies

Date & Duration
11 January 2025, 8pm
12 January 2025, 3pm
80 minutes with no intermission

Location
Esplanade Theatre Studio

Price
$38
*20% DISCOUNT FOR STUDENTS, NSF, SENIOR CITIZENS AND PWD CARDHOLDERS

*10% discount for Esplanade&Me members (limited tickets). Log in to your esplanade&me member account to access the promo code.

Accessibility Features
Open captions in English for all shows.

Rating
To be advised

︎ @Qabila_Collective
︎ Nisha Abdulla

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