Playwright Examines Consanguinamory

Shruthi Mathews interviewed playwright Nandini Krishnan on her play "Baby," which examines "the psychological motivations underpinning a father-daughter relationship that crosses over from filial affection to erotic love."

The Hindu Chennai-based freelance writer Nandini Krishnan. Photo: S.S. Kumar

What prompted you to write a play about incest?

 Well, the idea struck me a long time ago. Someone commissioned an article on incest, so I began to research the topic. I spoke to psychiatrists as well as people who were participants in incestuous relationships. However, I focussed more on consensual as opposed to abusive incestuous relationships. Although incestuous abuse, especially of children, does occur, I was surprised and also intrigued by the many instances of incest that took place between consenting adults. For people like you and me, it's quite difficult to comprehend why someone would want to have a sexual relationship with a close family member — we generally find the idea repellent — and this made me very interested in investigating why consensual incest occurs, and in what contexts

I've covered "why" before, of course. Without using the terminology, the interview touches upon Genetic Sexual Attraction in passing.

It's a great interview. Read the rest. I would definitely be interested in seeing the play. Thank you to Krishnan for writing the play and doing a great interview, and thank you to Mathews for doing the interview.