Contempt brings into focus legal practice, institution and discourse as it meets the lived experiences of individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). As a performance, it confronts the language of the law, based on and echoing the existing transcripts in the Suresh Kumar Koushal versus Naz Foundation case. Over a period of two months in 2012, the Supreme Court heard arguments on a matter where it ultimately criminalized the intimate lives of LGBTQ individuals.
This production responds to the many ways in which contempt – as a tangible social practice – materializes as a daily encounter and a lifelong challenge that informs this most personal of choices both within and outside the courtroom.
Contempt has been written and directed by Danish Sheikh. The production premiered with a reading by the Floating Space Theatre Company at the British Council in Colombo in 2017 and was longlisted for the Hindu Playwright Award the same year. It has subsequently been selected for the “Queer Plays from around the World” Festival to be conducted by the Arcola Theatre in London in March 2018.