WOMEN CAN'T WAIT

Is it possible for one person to express the pain and suffering of eight different women from eight different nations?  That's what Sarah Jones did to a standing ovation from Chennai's elite, with her one-woman show - Women Can't Wait.  Directed by Gloria Feliciano and written by Sarah Jones herself, the show was originally commissioned by Equality Now.  Equality Now is an international human rights organisation dedicated to action for the civil, political and social rights of girls and women.  The show was brought to India by the CREA - Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action, as part of its public education and advocacy initiative.

Women Can't Wait presents eight women from India, Japan, France, Israel, Jordan, The United States of America, Uruguay and Kenya as they prepare to address the United Nations.  Sarah Jones through her portrayal of those eight women brought to life the impact of discriminatory laws on the daily lives of women and girls around the world. 

Sarah Jones uses just one prop - a single diaphanous shawl, which she employs as a head covering, as a sling and as a doll, even as she transforms herself into eight different women.  She started with the portrayal of Praveen, a timid woman from India, who is a victim of marital rape.  Then came Émeraude from France, who is seen as a criminal by the law because of a law prohibiting women from working at night.  Tomoko from Japan has discovered true love after an abusive first marriage.  But Japan has a law, which says that a divorced woman should wait for a 'mandatory period' after divorce before she can remarry.  That law has put a question mark on her future. 

Hala from Jordan relates her traumatic experience, where the law condones killing done in the name of family honour.  Her brother was told to kill her rebellious sister--and did so--when the girl was seen as a threat to the family name.  Alma from Uruguay, whose daughter's rapist has been removed from all blame because he has offered to marry his victim (as the girl is pregnant, this wedding is in fact going forward "and I am having to choose a dress to match the flower worn in the tuxedo by my daughter's rapist, soon to be my son in law!" states Alma in disgust). 

Bonita, from the United States narrates how she was jailed for killing in self-defence, born out of domestic abuse. Next was Shira from Israel, an Orthodox Jewish woman, who is imprisoned for seeking a divorce from a husband who refuses to grant her one. And finally came the shy little girl from Kenya, Anna, who wanted her country to halt its practice of performing female circumcision or Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), as she calls it.  A horrendous practice that is carried out on young women when they reach adolescence.  She tentatively suggests that the cuts could be made on symbolic artefacts. 

Jones' mastery of accents and regional mannerisms brought laughs of recognition from the audience, while her gentle humour prevented the show from becoming a 'weepologue'.  Her portrayal of 'Emeraude', the French woman with her high falsetto and sly comments and 'Bonita', a New Yorker who struggles to control her native slang provided the humorous balance.  Jones' ability to shift from one nationality to the next left every one amazed.

Writer Sivasankari who introduced Sarah Jones to the audience before the show commenced said that, introducing Jones was like attempting to put an elephant into an earthen pot - an impossible task. But Sarah Jones did just that, with her portrayal of those eight women. And in the process, she highlighted the repercussions of discriminatory laws on women across the world.

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