One might say that since the advent of social media, more and more people are politically conscious of their speech. With cancel culture thriving online, people often miss the fact that such prejudices proliferate further in much subtler contexts at social gatherings. Theatremaker Anoushka Zaveri seeks to bring one such issue of the self and body image the fore as part of Hear, Here — a series of rehearsed readings by Bhasha Centre. The reading of Fat Pig, a play by American playwright and director Neil LaBute, will delve into the subject of being overweight and its social stigma on individuals. First premiered off-Broadway in 2004, the play was more recently adpated into a opera production in 2022 by composer Matt Boehler. “For me, the play is important on a very personal level. When we look at the core of all the discrimination in society, it all boils down to one thing — you cannot accept someone who is different. It is such an illogical, silly perception in and of itself,” Zaveri says.

Anoushka Zaveri and Neil LaBute. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons