WELCOME TO THE RED CURTAIN PROJECT!
Welcome to the Red Curtain Project, a new initiative from Thresh dedicated to sharing stories, ancient and modern, from the Indian subcontinent. We believe that in challenging times stories offer timeless wisdom to bring us together and build empathy.
Every other week, we will publish a new story with guest collaborators. In sharing these stories with you, our hope is that you will be inspired to create, perform and even share your own stories with others around you.
(Why "Red Curtain"? Click here)
Current series: GIRLS' EMPOWERMENT
THE TREE-HUGGER
The Tree-Hugger is based on a true story from 1730 in India. A young woman, Amrita Devi and her three daughters sacrifice their lives to protect the trees in their community. On seeing their sacrifice, many people from her village follow suit: laying down their lives to save the trees.
The script for this performance, inspired by the true events, is written by Mona Sehgal for young audiences.
Our current series is about the empowerment and development of strong young women. In each of these stories we look at a key opportunity offered to a young woman that will help her build self worth, courage and leadership skills to become a role model for others to follow.
The importance of role models is spotlighted in these stories where the young girls are inspired to lead with confidence. Even in today's world, there are many communities
around the world where education and rights for women are almost non-existent. Our hope is that with these stories, we can create more awareness of the positive communities being built by having women as part of the decision-making process.
Our first story The Why Why Girl is about education in tribal areas. Moyna, our protagonist, is inspired to become a teacher through her curiosity.
Our second story I Will Save My Land is about Mati, a young lower-caste girl who learns to fight for her land and rights.
Our third story The Tree-Hugger is a true story (from 1730), telling of the great sacrifice of a young woman Amrita and her three daughters to protect trees in their community. This led to the creation of one of the most powerful environmental movements in the 20th century called CHIPKO.
Other stories in this series
The Why-Why Girl
A delightful story of a young tribal girl, Moyna, who is curious about everything and will never stop asking the question 'WHY?' Written by one of India's celebrated writers, Mahasweta Devi.
"I Will Save My Land!"
In this story set in modern times, Mati is a spirited young woman from a tribe that used to be called "untouchable." Inspired by her grandmother, she stands up against an international mining company.
THE RED CURTAIN CHALLENGE:
YOUR DRAWINGS!
Here are some lovely drawings from young (and older!) creatives from around the world who took the "Red Curtain Challenge"—to send us a drawing or a painting inspired by one of the stories. A selection of our favourites is below—use the arrows to click / swipe left and right on the slideshow. Or you can see all the fantastic artwork on this page.
Would you like to be one of our fabulous creatives? Inspire us with your work and send it to info@threshdance.org.
TALK TO US
We would love to hear from you. Please let us know what works best for you and what you feel could be improved.
Our stories take a lot of work with many creators behind the scenes. If you like our stories please do consider supporting The Red Curtain Project, and help us keep publishing new stories and performances.