Thiruvananthapuram: Transgenders have joined hands to collect money for the victims of the recent Kerala floods. And they are set to do it by staging a play.

15 transgenders, who are jobless and struggling to earn their daily bread, are preparing to stage a play here under the aegis of the State-based Dhwayah Transgenders Arts and Charitable Society.

The ticket money collected from the audience would be used to support flood-hit students, rebuild selected schools ravaged by the devastating floods that had left a trail of destruction across the State last month.

They have also planned to use the money to help their own fellow members in the community, who had suffered losses in the floods.

Titled Parayan Maranna Kathakal, the two-hour-long play is helmed by Tamil Nadu-based queer activist and director Sreejith Sundaram, trans woman Surya, one of the artists, said.

"People may not respond positively if we seek donation. So, we have decided to mobilise the money through our own way, by showcasing our talents," Surya said.

"Unlike other dramas, we are trying to tell our own story through this play. It is about the suffering we undergo, the ostracization and humiliation we face in the family and society. And the saga of our continuing struggles to find a space," she said.

In one way, it would be an awareness drive to educate the society about a transgender's life, the activist said.

Surya, also a member of the Kerala Transgender Justice Board, said they had already donated Rs 50,000 to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

All the actors of the play are members of the Mazhavil Dhwani, an all-transgender drama troupe.

The play, being staged at the Ganesham auditorium at Thycaud here on Monday evening, will have 14 trans men and one trans woman as actors.

The main objective of the group was to support students who have lost their study materials in floods in the worst-hit Aluva and Chalakkudy regions, she said.

Parayan Maranna Kathakal has already been staged in four venues in the State. It has already been selected to an international theatre festival to be held in Goa later this year, the activist added.