Preview of Melanin and The Hungry Ghost (2020). The copyright owner has chosen to make the script only partially available online. To view the full script, or to enquire about performance or reproduction permissions, please contact the copyright owner.
All Madhavi Shankar has ever wanted is to be Chinese. Systemic racism, microaggressions and even biases within her own Indian community have haunted her throughout her life.
During the Hungry Ghost Festival, Madhavi invokes a spirit to execute her request. Meanwhile, her co-worker, Victoria Tay, gets her privileges checked when forced into an Indian body. How far will this racial pretense take them?
How do various forms of racial discrimination manifest within and across different ethnic groups? Is inclusion possible in a society with deeply entrenched prejudices? What happens when we walk in each other's shoes?
A dramatised staged reading of Melanin and The Hungry Ghost was presented online by The Necessary Stage as part of Devising Platform 2020: Playwrights' Cove. It was directed by Alvin Tan.
To view the full script, or to enquire about performance or reproduction permissions, please contact Aswani Aswath at aswaniaswathhh@gmail.com.