9 Parts of Desire, 9 parts Ira Dubey

The quintessential burkha clad scared Iraqi woman, a free spirited painter, a gypsy hearted Bedouin, an old woman emigrant in London, a young doctor, a kid growing up in Iraq, a mother whos lost her daughter, an immigrant girl in America and a helpless woman who steals her dead neighbours paintings for money  all brought to life by the stunning Ira Dubey.

On performing solo
It terrifying, its crazy, its nerve wracking and its gratifying, all at once, so immensely gratifying. Its the hardest thing Ive ever done in my career. Its so much about the audience as well because eventually, its just me and the audience. The magic needs to happen in the first ten minutes, that connection with the audience is so so crucial.

On theatre
Theatre is a drug. Ive gone out, explored movies, Bollywood, but I always come back. I think it happens to everyone in this field, the call of the stage draws you back everytime.

In India
Its burgeoning, blossoming, going in the right direction. Its a great time to be in theatre, there are some amazing companies that are doing great work. What I want for theatre in this country is technical advancement. We need more funding, more resources. When Im performing abroad, thats something that I love, the structure of it all. Here, we tend to not take theatre so seriously.

On women in theatre
I think great roles have been written for women in theatre, by both women and men. I think the difference when a woman writes is that she understands the deeper nuances of simply being a woman. Its never a feminist point of view, its simply a feminine point of view. Its the stories of the women whose husbands have gone to war. We are planning to work on something similar bringing to life the stories of Indian women.