In the Shadow of the Gun

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InterAct Theatre Company, in cooperation with the Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and the Asian Arts Initiative, present a special performance of In the Shadow of the Gun, by Sri Lankan writer/performer Sumathy.

In the Shadow of the Gun is a one-woman performance piece accompanied by live music. At once political and poetic, the play examines the struggles of Tamil women in wartime and how they confront and negotiate the silence overpowering their lives. Sri Lanka has undergone a more than two decade long civil war waged by Tamil (an ethnic minority) militants against the Sri Lankan State. Locating herself within the dynamics of Tamil nationalism, Sumathy asks questions regarding women and the national liberation struggle of the Tamil people. What is the role for women's militancy here? What roles do women play within nationalism?