Nearly two and a half years ago, publishing house Zubaan had undertaken research on sexual violence and impunity. In order to open up a dialogue on this research with the public, particularly students of law and medicine, they commissioned a series of art performances, out of which, Allegedly, a theatre piece by Delhi-based theatre artiste Mallika Taneja, was born. Although originally conceived as a live performance, the production has taken on a virtual avatar, with a show coming up this weekend.

Taneja tells us that the Zoom performance, which brings together 16 womxn [an inclusive term that refers to anyone who  identifies as a woman] actors from across India, seeks to strike up a conversation on legality, believability, consent and memory surrounding sexual violence. She shares that she had initially designed the play as a tête-à-tête between two friends. “We were in talks to perform the play in Europe in collaboration with two theatre platforms, Beursschouwburg Brussels and Kunstencentrum Vooruit Ghent, but then the pandemic struck. We tried turning it into a video installation, but after successive lockdowns in Europe, we decided to change the form,” she adds.