Mahabharata (महाभारतम्) has it all: singing, dancing, storytelling, and humour. Is there anything this London troupe can’t do? The short answer is no! Inspired by Carole Satyamurti’s Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling, writer/creators Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain adapted this epic work into a sublime, moving, gorgeous theatrical spectacle. Whilst the run time is four hours and fifty minutes over two parts, it does not get stale or boring but rather keeps you riveted the whole way through.
The casting, clever; the costumes, sumptuous; the sets, minimalist and exquisite; and the director, Ravi Jain, has delivered with aplomb.
Two parts, Karma and Dharma, are delivered in a very distinct fashion which helps keep things fresh. Karma was like an Indian rock opera with a backing band that blew my mind. If they had a record, I would buy it. They were so fabulous that at the main break, my companion and I went bopping along to their earworms, off into the night. Dharma was half opera and half political thriller. The latter used screens for dramatic close-ups of the central characters.
The break between parts 1 and 2 was about two and a half hours long – perhaps a bit too long for some, but it does allow you time to go to your favourite restaurant, even if it’s far away. Apart from that, the only issue was a technical one, as the sound desk often lagged behind in turning up the performers’ mics when it was their turn to deliver their lines.
Meanwhile, the Mahabharata is a dense forest of stories with recurrent themes. Part two contains the religious text, the Bhagavad Gita, which was performed as an opera of cosmic beauty. This act highlights the main themes of the Mahabharata, including Dharma, which roughly translates to ‘the importance of right conduct’, and gives precise recipes for this. One should not do things out of revenge or desire for reward, but because it is the right thing to do. When one favours one’s children to the exclusion of others, the results, whilst they might feel right, lead to dangerous outcomes for the rest of society. It also talks about the importance of living your life in service of others and warns against the danger of craving power. To this end, it is a panacea for our modern era of ‘greed is good’, anger is permissible if it is righteous, and being good to your children somehow excuses you from your obligations to society.
Why Not Theatre are masterful and describe themselves as “disruptors”; given the central messages of this show and the current zeitgeist, they are exactly that, delivering truth and beauty dressed up as entering the evening out.
C.J. O’HARTE
Mahabharata महाभारतम् runs until 16 Feb 2025 at His Majesty’s Theatre for Perth Festival. For tickets and more information, click here.
