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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MARCH 24, 2023 | The Indian Eye 26

Mahabharata – A must see Show at Shaw Festival

RENU MEHTA

Niagara On the Lake
he journey for the epic Ma-
habharata has not been easy.
TAfter a long and arduous eight-
year trek, the performances for this
grand narrative at the Shaw theatre
at the scenic Niagara on the Lake are
being showcased. And what a spec-
tacular show it is! The 5-hour show
split into two parts, has an interna-
tional cast with 14 actors created from
what is known as the longest piece of
poetry in Sanskrit. The first perfor-
mance is based on Karma (The Life
we Inherit) and the second Show on
Dharma (The Life we Choose) that
includes the Bhagavad Gita Opera.
Mahabharata is the story of the
war between dharma and adharma
between two warring families when
the Kauravas and the Pandavas bat-
tle on the grounds of Kurukshetra.
The narrative of the Bhagwad Gee-
ta discusses philosophical discours-
es on dharma, responsibility, duty
and righteousness. The story itself perspective. Its stories stay with dest son of the Sun God and Princess two-show days, the Khana Com-
is 4000 years old and is the longest you – their contradictions become Kunti, are all skillfully woven in the munity Meal is served at the Jackie
poem ever written with 200,000 indi- the subject of conversation and de- Show. It is indeed a rare treat to see Maxwell Studio Theatre. Midway
vidual verse lines. It is estimated that bates and as we age those meanings the vivid scriptwriting detail inter- through the meal, a table set for two
one million people died at the end of change,” says Jain in his Director’s spersed with classical Indian dances on a round stage suddenly seats Fer-
the war. notes. and music, nandes and Sharada K. Eswar, who is
The story telling is remarkably Most of us from India have “Mahabharata was a story that incharge for the text adaptation, who
narrated by Miriam Fernandes who grown up listening to stories from the played in the background of my child- discuss more stories from the Ma-
has written and adapted the show Mahabharata from childhood. Sto- hood. I caught glimpses of it through habharata, and regale the audience
along with Ravi Jain, founding Artis- ries told to us by our mothers, aunts a popular television series, a set of with their interpretations, telling
tic Director of Why not theatre. Full and grandmothers. Countless tales comic books and in the paintings their stories learnt during childhood.
of energy and expression, the stories from this epic with a diverse range and sculptures of ancient temples I’d The inventive art backdrops, the
and characters who make up the of characters all intertwined with a visited in India. The characters in- range of Indian classical dances, the
Mahabharata come alive from Fer- range of intrigue, revenge, hatred, filtrated my imagination, but I never procession of music and the remark-
nandes eloquent and vivid narration. love and duty are all there in the pre- really knew the story – only pieces, able creativity is certainly worth a
“It’s rare to experience Ma- sentation. Be it the story of Amba, episodes, the television theme song,” journey to the Shaw festival theatre.
habharata from beginning to end in Ambika and Ambalika, the tale of says Jain in the Director’s Notes. The not to be missed spectacular
one day. It needs time. It requires Bhishma, the story of Karna, the el- Between performances on the presentation runs until March 26.

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