Hindu mythology gets a gay makeover

Gods in War, a dance drama by Visakesa Chandrasekaram, will reinterpret ancient Hindu mythologies in a queer context.

Since its conception, Hindu mythology has been shaped by pluralistic philosophies and under Chandrasekaram’s direction, the play will investigate the theories through a highly standardised form of classical dance and English dialogues.

In Gods in War, all these queer and straight characters come to life in a dance drama style, he said.

There are heaps of evidence in the ancient scriptures, sculptures and legends to prove that historically homosexuality has not been rejected amongst Hindus.

This does not mean countries like India and Sri Lanka (where I come from) are accepting of GLBT people -¦ we have been colonised by British or other Europeans and forcefully introduced to their values that rejected homosexuals. Still we suffer from 100-year-old British laws that prohibit sodomy.

Chandrasekaram thinks the main obstacles in fighting for our rights as GLBT people in Western countries are modernised religious institutions.

But look at some of the religions in South Asia, supposedly a backward region -” they have a place for us. They have gay, lesbian and transgender gods and goddesses in their pantheons, he said.

Secondly, what you will see in this play is that the gender of humans does not have to be always defined as male or female. It could be either or somewhere in between. Gay men put so much emphasis on -˜straight-acting’ these days. They want to put up an act to hide their feminine aspects. We have to be comfortable being who we are.

info: Gods in War is at the Riverside Theatres Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 February and moves to The Factory Theatre on Sunday 1 March. Tickets start at $20 + BF. Bookings on www.factorytheatre.com.au or www.riversideparramatta.com.au.