It has been nearly three years since the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety handed down its report into the various issues plaguing the Australian aged care system. This crisis escalated in the COVID-19 pandemic when aged residents were not properly cared for. But the neglect of senior citizens is not restricted to these care centres – the problem goes beyond that.
“Something happened during the pandemic that will remain with me,” remembers Paramita Roy, an Adelaide resident. “I was driving somewhere, and I saw an elderly Indian woman, carrying saline drip equipment. She was walking alone to a hospital. I know that woman – she has two sons who are very accomplished in the community. And they couldn’t take their mum to the hospital!”
An Indian-origin director and writer, Roy has been living in Australia since 1999. She is behind a short film and play titled Mums Behind the Masks which will premiere on March 17 and 18 at Star Theatres as part of the 2023 Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Art is not just a celebration of the good things, she feels. “Art should make you think,” Roy adds. “I want people coming to my play to think about mothers who are rejected, abandoned and not cared for. These women have invested their whole lives into nurturing their children to ensure they get a good education, a good job, and when they become old, they are a forgotten lot.”
Roy reveals that it was the Royal Commission report that nudged her into doing this project. “Visiting Auschwitz in Poland I got a deeper understanding of what had happened during the Holocaust and how people had suffered,“ she recalls. “Returning home to Australia in February 2020, I was shocked to see how seniors were treated here. I spoke to families and friends living inter-state and they shared their journey with me, their frustration during the period. I am a mum myself so this really hit home!”
Women in pandemic
Mums Behind the Masks presents true stories of older women in a pandemic-struck world. At the centre are three mums – played by a Chinese actor, another of Lebanese origin and finally an Indian. They challenge their manipulative family members with their grit, wit and courage.
And there is a hint of comedy, too!
“I didn’t want to make an entirely dark play,” Roy confesses. “I thought that it won’t appeal to the audience unless it is a combination of both – comedy and reality.”
In 2021, when Roy made an announcement that she was looking for actors for the project, she received a positive response from all over Australia.
“But shooting was difficult due to the lockdowns,” she says. “All the mums who are cast in the play are seniors – one of them is 70. So we had to plan the shoot in two days and from just two locations.”
One of the mothers in the play was living in a campervan – which became one of the shooting locations as well. “She was a cancer survivor and lived in the van. She had also lost one of the family members during the pandemic. I couldn’t take any risks and so had to ensure we had all taken our vaccines and followed COVID-19 protocols.”
The actor who played the Indian mum took ill, and so, Roy herself stepped in to play the part. “It was definitely nerve-wracking but I did it! I’ve acted in the short film and will be on stage in the play as well,” she smiles.
Next stop, India!
Next, Roy says, she wants to bring Mums Behind the Masks to India – where there is a full-grown community of theatre enthusiasts. But also because India is her first home.
Roy was raised in Kolkata’s Bhowanipore. “I studied teachers training and did my practice at La Martiniere School. I have very strong ties with my home city.”
She left India in her early 20s, ravelling widely with her husband.
Most of her story ideas come from these adventures. “We came to Australia only for a few months, but ended up staying here for 24 years.”
While she was always interested in writing and performing arts, she formally studied directing at National Institute of Dramatic Art and the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
“The passion for literature was always there. Bengalis love their Tagore,” she laughs.
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