Producer & Stage Manager
Temple of Desire, Melbourne Fringe Festival 2024, Malthouse Theatre
DESCRIPTION
– Directors Choice Award- Melbourne Fringe Festival 2024
– 3 SOLD OUT shows at Malthouse Theatre
– On Tour- Woodford Folk Festival 2024-2025
– Cast of 16 Dancers whose traditional training and stagecraft in(bharatanātyam)
– “A celebration of spirituality and sensuality, through the beauty of classical Indian dance!”
Temple of Desire- Cast and Crew
Director: Govind Pillai
Producer: Manjusha Manjusha
Lighting Designer: Max Woods
Social Media: Joshinder Chaggar
Digital Art: Shelley O’Meara
Photographer: James Henry
Videographer: Jeff Sheppard
Set Designer: Jonathan Fae
DJ: DJ Goddess Naavikaran
Performed by: Sahithi Chintakunta, Neptune Henriksen, Veena Kadayaprath, Jaya Karan, Govind Pillai, Divya Raghavan, Ramya Raghavan, Saranya Saravanan, Sangeeta Sathyanath, Davina Shaji, Ambika Shivaramu, Divya Shreejit Kumar, Aparna Subramaniam, Archana Subramaniam, Sindusa Wignarajan, Arulselvam Subramaniam
“Inside the Malthouse Theatre, the work certainly felt like a radical reclamation of a time and space beyond colonial stigma, a proud freeing of brown bodies from fetishisation and gendered binaries, a transcendent liberation of brown desire.”
“The opening image of a gender-transcendent deity descending to earth – performed almost entirely with backs to audience just as temple dancers would have – was expertly crafted, teasing us with glimpses of a hallowed gathering, while a suggestive flower wielding solo with sleeping dancers aptly embodied the sexuality of the divine, cheekily reminiscent of a wet dream.”
“Equally transfixing were the lighting, sound and set design, which greatly enhanced the magical atmosphere. Energetic fusion beats and spectacular tessellations of blues and pinks were sent bouncing around the room by dazzling kandeels (lanterns) and mirrorballs suspended from the ceiling – it was simply breathtaking.”
“Overall, Temple of Desire was a visually splendid spectacle, a celebration of the beauty of Indian classical dance: a realm mingling holy exaltation and sensual mystery.”
ArtsHub