Gaudino Creative Residencies: Maya Krishna Rao "You Really Want to Know My Story" Performance

Here are two searing stories of prisoners even today on death row in India. The first is the account of a low caste bus driver, and the second, a Muslim migrant worker.

These stories sharply remind us of how skewed the criminal justice system is, how it dehumanises people who lack resources and education.

Based on true stores, this performance draws attention to some critical questions in any country:

Why are most death row prisoners in India of a particular profile?
What is the impact of the death sentence on the family of a prisoner on death row?
Why so much torture in prison?
Why the Death Penalty, at all?

Maya Krishna Rao is a performer and theatre maker who has been a lively figure on the landscape of art and politics in India for decades. Her original works cross experimental performance and activist street theatre. She works from a basis in Kathakali, one of the classical dance-theatre forms, to craft a contemporary language that speaks to current issues with humor and bold insight.

This event is supported in part by a Global Ventures Fund grant.

For more information, email Amy Holzapfel (ash2@williams.edu). All are welcome.

Gaudino Creative Residencies support short-term campus visits by artists, makers, or practitioners of any field who intend to share their knowledge, skills, and creative expertise directly with students through modes of experiential, practice-based, or hands-on learning. Such pedagogy aligns with the larger mission of the Gaudino Fund, which, inspired by the legacy of Prof. Robert L. Gaudino, aims to foster curricular initiatives that emphasize the deep connections between lived experience and intellectual endeavor.