Public Obscenities

A complex and compelling bilingual play that examines the intersections of queerness and Indian-American identity. When Indian-American graduate student Choton travels from the US to his family's home city of Kolkata to film interviews with the local queer community, he relishes acting as the local expert, especially in his role as interpreter between Bangla and English for his filmmaker boyfriend. Soon, though, Choton starts to question not only what he thinks he knows about queerness in India, but what both queerness and his Indian heritage mean for him. When a rediscovered roll of film reveals surprisingly intimate photographs of Choton's austere grandfather (taken by whom?), Choton's understanding of his family, both living and dead, starts to unravel. What follows is a mesmerising examination of intercultural identity, asking audiences to reconsider what we mean when we call a place home. Shayok Misha Chowdhury's play Public Obscenities was first performed at Soho Rep, off-Broadway, in 2023. It was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.