New Play by alumni Poorna Jagannathan and Rob Jansen with Director Yael Farber, makes front page of Terp magazine
February 20, 2014
Working With Renowned Director, Yael Farber,Two Alums, Poorna Jagannathan (BA'96) and Rob Jansen (MFA'13) Take on Sexual Violence in India
Poorna Jagannathan (BA '96) was any girl on any bus in New Delhi. Between the ages of 14 and 17, she was sexually violated every day as she rode to school. Men touched her, groped her, snaked their hands up her skirt.
Years before, she’d been sexually assaulted by a neighbor, a friend of her parents. Her experience was not unique in India. “Every girl I know has a story about sexual violation,” she says.
But Poorna, who graduated from the University of Maryland in 1996 with a degree in journalism and went on to become a popular actress in India, remained silent about her abuse.
“The truth is, being silent about sexual violence makes you part of the cause of that violence. I didn’t know what I could do, but I knew I had to break my own silence.”
She reached out to noted director Yael Farber, and together, with the help of Rob Jansen M.F.A. ’13, a play was born to lift the veil of silence on sexual violence in India.