The Regional Theatre in Thrissur turned into a vibrant arena of women’s creative power on Sunday (August 30, 2026) as Vanitha Sahithi’s State Women’s Theatre Festival brought together performers, playwrights and theatre enthusiasts for a day rich of stories, resistance and artistic expression.

Fourteen productions, including a solo performance and four short plays, were staged during the day-long festival, which began at 9.30 a.m. Women filled not just the stage but also the backstage and the auditorium, making it a theatre day marked by an unmistakable display of collective feminine energy.

Inaugurating the festival, theatre activist Sreeja Arangottukara said the event was particularly significant because festivals dedicated exclusively to women in theatre have been rare in Keralam.

She recalled that the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi had organised a 10-day women’s theatre festival titled Sthree Nataka Panippura in 1998, featuring workshops, plays and seminars. “Since then, despite several discussions, neither the akademi nor the government have organised a festival that gives such prominence to women in theatre,” she said. Vanitha Sahithi’s initiative, therefore, marks a welcome return to such a platform, she added.

“A full-day festival bringing together women from across Keralam—from north to south—is a matter of great joy and hope,” said Ms. Arangottukara, urging institutions such as the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi to organise more festivals dedicated to women’s theatre.

History of women in theatre

She also pointed to the glaring gaps in the documentation of Keralam’s women’s theatre history. “Women’s theatre history in Keralam has been recorded only sparsely, if at all,” she said. “Many plays and important developments connected to women in theatre have either been ignored or deliberately pushed out of history.”

She cited Thozhil Kendrathilekku, a play performed entirely by women in 1947 and published as a book in 1948, which, she said, found little or no place in mainstream theatre histories before being reprinted and discussed decades later.

But the stage, she noted, has changed dramatically.

“From a time when the very sight of a woman actor on stage was considered problematic, increasing numbers of young women are today overcoming inhibitions about their bodies and occupying the stage with confidence, “ Ms. Arangottukara noted.

Honours talent

The festival also honoured theatre talent, with Jisha Abhinaya receiving the Kavunkara Bhargavi Award for Best Script and Ambika Velayudhan winning the Shantha Devi Award for Solo Performance.

The stage witnessed a rich spectrum of productions, including Fareeda, which won first prize in Vanitha Sahithi’s State Playwriting competition. Written by Ms. Jisha, directed by Vishnu Abhinaya and presented by Abhinaya Nataka Samithi, Kuttur, Thrissur, the play explores migration, displacement and the loss of identity.

Human beings have migrated since prehistoric times—once in search of food and water, but increasingly today out of fear: fear of questions surrounding nation, language, religion, caste and gender.

At its heart, Fareeda stands with those who have been rejected and rendered invisible. Fareeda is not just a name. It represents thousands whose identities have been erased and becomes a symbol of resistance against the pain of alienation. Set in the fictional village of Pilakkattiri, the play follows the lives and struggles of its people, including Kakku, the husband of a young woman named Haireenisa. Blending realism with fiction that moves beyond time, the play ties the village’s hopes, upheavals, struggles and exhaustion to the journey of a bus named Fareeda.

It was more than a theatre festival. It was a day when women owned the stage, in performance, in creation and in conversation, while a long-silenced chapter of Keralam’s theatre history returned to the spotlight.