THE BASICS: MAHABARATHA, PARTS 1 and 2 (separate plays) by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes, directed by Ravi Jain, presented by The Shaw Festival, February 28 – March 26, in repertory, with shows alternating at 1:00 and 7:00 on weekdays, but you can take in both Parts 1 & 2 on the final Saturday and on Sunday as well. The Shaw Festival Theatre, 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. 1-800-511-SHAW shawfest.com
For the full experience of this epic story, Shawfest recommends seeing both Parts 1 and 2. Recommended for Grade 7+ | Age 12+
RUNTIME: Karma (part 1): 2 hours and 30 minutes including one intermission and for Dharma (part 2): 2 hours and 15 minutes including one intermission.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: MAHABARATHA (pronounced “Ma-ha-BAR-ah-tha”) Part 1 (KARMA: The Life We Inherit) and Part 2 (DHARMA: The Life We Choose) are visually and often musically stunning spectacles adapted from a Sanskrit epic that is more than four thousand years old. Our small part of the enormous saga concerns a family feud over property between the Kauravas and the Pandavas which ultimately leads to a terrible war. Foundational to Indian Hindu culture, it’s also an exploration of philosophical and spiritual ideas. To read the playbill in advance of attending (I highly recommend this) click here.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION: The show was based on Carole Satyamurti’s 928-page book “Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling.” To quote Sharada K Eswar, credited with text adaptation but in the playbill acting more as a dramaturg, “Many modern scholars, writers, and playwrights [are] exhausted and overwhelmed by the maze of stories…”
The good news is that the creative team has done all the hard work leaving us with a very satisfying unified theater experience.
True, the original epic is a little like Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” (many, many characters) but the idea of multi-generational power struggles should feel familiar to modern audiences who have enjoyed television shows such as “Dallas” “Dynasty” “Succession” or “Yellowstone.”
I would also compare the experience to watching the most recent Academy Award-winning movie “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” because while there is a lot going on, you stay invested. So, yes, it might take a moment to figure out who’s who, and what’s what, but the acting is so impassioned, the visuals are so rich including stunning costumes and dancing, and the music so hypnotic that you can settle into your seat and just let it wash over you.
Or, to quote from the playwright Ravi Jain, “The best advice I can give you is a line from the play’s Storyteller: ‘Don’t be confused by plots. Within the river of stories flows infinite wisdom. That is your true inheritance’.”
Sometimes the stories are advanced by The Storyteller (Miriam Fernandes, the other playwright, who was marvelous on stage), sometimes in dialog, sometimes in live action, sometimes in dance, and once by an “opera” which was exquisite.
So, yes, there are several stories, but one major plotline has two proud and hot-headed men, leaders of their families, settling their differences at the gambling table. Yudhishthira of the Pandavas keeps losing to Duryodhana of the Kauravas over and over and over, gambling away all of the ancestral lands, gambling away his wife Draupadi (she is not happy about that, I can tell you), and finally gambling away himself. Clearly, the gods are trying to tell Yudhishthira something, but he can’t listen.
After years of exile, he mounts an army and the two families go to war in a major way as thousands die. Only years later, after Yudhishthira himself dies, he goes to heaven where again he loses his temper with the gods one last time when he sees the obnoxious Duryodhana in the lap of luxury. Just then does he understand that true peace is only attained when one conquers oneself.
I’ll end with another quote from Sharada K Eswar: “So long is the history and so deep is the wound that everyone assumes they are the victims and no one is prepared to accept the role of the villain. Such is life. There are no heroes or villains, just people who choose to exploit, people who seek retribution, people who cannot forgive, and people who shy away from responsibility but yearn for nobility.”
Presented in conjunction with Toronto’s innovative Why Not Theatre, this production will go on tour after the world premiere at Shawfest. This makes me so happy, that many more will have the opportunity to experience this once in a lifetime event.
NOTE: There is an opportunity for an authentic Indian vegetarian buffet (“Khana”) in the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre at 4:00 pm on March 25 and 26 when Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1) and Mahabharata: Dharma (Part 2) will be presented over the course of one day allowing you to enjoy this Sanskrit epic in its entirety with a community meal in between. Purchase your Khana when you buy your tickets for one of the dates noted above. $40 plus tax. Seating is limited. Wheelchair accessible. For details click here.
Lead image: Neil D’Souza as Krishna and Anaka Maharaj-Sandhu as Arjuna in Why Not Theatre’s Mahabharata (Shaw Festival, 2023). Photo by David Cooper.
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!