Contemporary retelling is a musical extravaganza of the great Sanskrit epic
Our Bureau
London
A new contemporary retelling of the ‘Mahabharata’ opens in London on Sunday, incorporating several Indian musical and dance art forms and bringing together a worldwide cast of characters.
The UK premiere of the musical extravaganza, which runs at the Barbican Theatre until next weekend, follows a critically acclaimed world premiere in Canada by Toronto-based Why Not Theatre and Indian-origin co-creators Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain.
The production is presented in two parts: Karma setting out the origin story of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans and Dharma capturing a great battle that destroys the planet leaving the survivors behind to rebuild.
“The two parts are bridged by a community meal, which is called ‘Khana and Kahani’. So, if you do the whole experience it’s a seven-hour journey; and we start all the way from Bheeshma’s vow at the very beginning of the story and we go through to the war until Yudhishtir goes to heaven,” said Fernandes, Why Not Theatre co-artistic director who also plays the narrator in the production.
Almost 40 years since Peter Brook’s legendary international production of the great Sanskrit epic, Why Not Theatre’s adaptation also explores the act of storytelling itself.
