A theatrical adaptation of the globally appreciated film and play Mamma Mia is being staged in the national Capital till Sunday at Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts.
Featuring live singing and dance performance along with outstanding acting and a beautiful audio-visual running in the background, the first live show of the musical act Mamma Mia Again! is being highly appreciated by the audience as well as the performing arts community at large.
The two-and-a-half hour long musical theatrical has been organised jointly by Azad Foundation and Sakha Consulting Wings to help raise funds for their transformational ‘Women on Wheels’ programme that empowers disadvantaged women to become professional drivers.
Successfully reflecting the tagline ‘Where there is a wheel, there is a way’, the narrative of the theatrical acted as a gateway of community mobilization to achieve the larger goal of women empowerment.
This musical adaptation of the globally appreciated 2008 film and play Mamma Mia is about a bride-to-be searching for her father, creating an amusing mess along the way. The proceeds from this delightful comedy will go towards the revolutionary ‘Women on Wheels’ program.
“Mamma Mia Again! not only fulfils our creative quests but also contributes to an extraordinary cause. It is my privilege to be associated with such a noble cause. This production is an adaptation of the internationally acclaimed film and Broadway musical. It is a story of four women who live life on their own terms and make their own choices which are sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but more importantly, they are the ones controlling their lives. While the foot-tapping music is certainly the soul of the production, the story, I believe is equally interesting,” says director Ritu R Chandra, who has crafted the new-age act with immense passion.
Over a career in theatre spanning for 18 years, Chandra has scripted, produced and directed various plays, including The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and We will Rock You. Her latest production was the critically acclaimed Khushi Ek Ehsas for the Blind Relief Association featuring 50 visually impaired children on stage.
Azad Foundation’s and Sakha’s ‘Women on Wheels’ is a social initiative that gives resource-poor women an opportunity to earn a livelihood through dignity. Azad Foundation provides transformational training providing driving as well as self-empowerment modules such as self-defence, first aid, legal and women’s rights, to name a few, to prepare and empower women. Once the women successfully complete the training, Sakha Consulting, Azad’s sister concern, provides employment to them in private chauffeur placements and Sakha Cabs for Women.
“Our ‘Women on Wheels’ program has recently brought remarkable change to the lives of many women and given vulnerable women living in slums a chance to escape poverty. Not only has it provided them much needed support, but has empowered them financially and socially in every aspect of life. The cohort of women chauffeurs provides safe and alternative transport options to women in Delhi and other cities, contributing in their own little way to make India safer, equitable and more amenable to women. We are thankful to Ritu Chandra and her team of artists for coming out in support of our cause and helping us in raising funds to expand our endeavour,” says Meenu Vadera of Azad Foundation.
‘Women on Wheels’ has so far trained as many as 700 women as employable drivers. These women are now investing their earnings in education, health and towards transforming their life conditions.