Akka (play)

Akka (அக்கா; literally "elder sister"; also slang for transgender woman) was the only queer-themed Singaporean Tamil play of the 20th century. It was written and directed by G Selvanathan.

Selvanathan was just out of army, walking down Serangoon Road in the vicinity of Desker Road when a friend asked him, "Why would you not want to do a drama about people like us?" This led him to create Akka in 1991, a play about a Tamil transwoman, based on conversations and interviews with members of the community. He was not supposed to play the lead at first, but his actor backed out at the last minute because his mother threatened to jump out of the window and commit suicide.

The work was presented at The Substation as part of Fourplay, a quadruple bill of short Tamil plays by Ravindran Drama Group. All the works dealt with social issues, so it was not actually all that shocking. Many people were deeply moved. Selvanathan's dance teacher's husband, a big masculine middle-aged man actually wept. The transwomen he had interviewed came and appreciated it too.

There was great press coverage. The censors did not cause any trouble. The National Arts Council (NAC) did, but Selvanathan could not remember what. The thing that hurt him, however, was when the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) decided to telecast all the plays in the production except for his. It did not matter that theatre audiences accepted it. Transgender lives were not an appropriate topic for television.

Surprisingly, there were no queer-themed Tamil plays after that until writer Ng Yi-Sheng approached Selvanathan to restage Akka as a reading in 2013, with actual transgender actors. This further led to full stagings and sequels from 2014 to 2016. The reason why Selvanathan did not write more was the ominous suicide threat. He did not dare produce more queer work knowing it could have that kind of effect on theatre practitioners' families.

=Staged reading=

On 23 August 2013, two sessions of a staged reading of Akka was back for a one-night-only restaging by its original director and playwright, G Selvanathan. It was organised by Avant Theatre & Language and The Purple Alliance, and hosted by Ng Yi-Sheng. The reading was conceptualised, written and directed by G Selvanathan, performed by Suresh Subash and Sonia Pravinaa Gsamy. Live music support was provided by Madhavan Andhisveena. The reading was in Tamil with English surtitles.

A post-reading discussion included panelists Dr Ward William Keeler (University of Texas), Vanessa Ho (Project X), Sonia (actress, transgender representative), G Selvanathan (director), Tricia Leong (transgender activist), Sandhya (transgender representative),,,,.

    

=Akka - The End=

In July 2014, Avant Theatre produced a sizzling, stylish and glamorous sequel to Akka, entitling it, Akka - The End. It proudly introduced Pravinah (Sonia), Sandhiya, Sharmila Priya, Shalini, Dhivithra and Amy. Living real lives as transgender people, they were also debuting as actors to tell their stories to the general public.

A behind-the-scenes teaser was produced by the Avant Theatre:



Only 3 exclusive shows were staged. Tickets were available online at: http://avanttheatreakka.peatix.com/

Show details

 * Event Date: July 3rd-5th
 * Event Time: 8pm
 * Rating: R18 (Transgender Theme)
 * Ticket Price: $31 (Standard) inclusive of $1 processing fee
 * Venue: School of The Arts (SOTA)
 * Entry: Patrons were to save their QR code ticket in their phones or print out their PDF e-ticket for entry into the venue.



Synopsis
With Kamini walking out on society in the first instalment, we wonder: What happened to Kamini after that fateful meeting? Did she manage to live the life she wanted? Or did she continue down the downward path of degradation?

Akka - The End is a poignant display of the plight of many transgender women who end up choosing the not-so conventional paths in their lives.

See what SHE sees, Feel what SHE feels. This is the story of HER.

=See also=
 * Transgender people in Singapore

=References=
 * "Akka - August 2013" Facebook event page, The Purple Alliance.
 * Ng Yi-Sheng, Facebook post after interviewing G. Selvanathan, 31 August 2019.

=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.