After three sold-out performances at University of Cape Town’s Little Theatre in November 2025, the dance drama Sari Sir will be featured at the National Arts Festival (NAF) in Makhanda from Friday to Sunday.
The 90-minute production narrates the toil and tribulations of Indian women brought to SA as indentured labourers from the 1860s.
Presented by Sharana Performing Arts and written, choreographed and directed by Saranya Devan, the production features students from UCT’s Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies.
Under Devan’s mentorship, the eight members trained intensively in both contemporary dramatic practice and the classical Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam, a first for the the non-Indian cast.
A specially recorded original score helps to keep audiences gripped from start to finish.
The title of the production resonates on multiple levels. The sari, a traditional Indian garment, symbolises joy, belonging, longing, protection, motherhood, memory and inheritance. It also embodies suffering, grief, confinement and silence.
Simultaneously, in Tamil, “sari” means “OK” — a word historically uttered with resignation. During the era of indenture, many Indian women were forced to respond to overseers with the subdued phrase: “Sari, Sir”. The production reclaims this with dignity and voice.
Devan expressed pride at bringing Sari Sir to the NAF stage. “This work honours the emotional and physical trials endured by Indian women transported to South African sugar plantations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,” she said.
“Their stories of displacement, cultural dislocation, gendered vulnerability and perseverance unfold through expressive choreography, rhythmic storytelling and symbolic use of costume and gesture.
“At the same time, the work celebrates Bharatanatyam as a living archive, a tradition that travelled across oceans and continued to breathe through women who remembered songs, gestures, rhythms and devotions, even when the world around them demanded that they forget.”
A story of Indians told through non-Indian South African bodies, Sari Sir invites audiences to reflect on how heritage transforms, adapts and survives in migration. It asks: what do we inherit, what do we carry and what do we choose not to lay down?
The performance stands as a tribute to women whose names are rarely recorded yet whose strength shaped generations. It is a gesture towards healing.
Bookings can be made via https://tickets.nationalartsfestival.co.za/en.
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