It was the sagacious tale about a king who drastically changed his life and accepted Buddhism. For what Samrat Ashoka is known in history is his cruelty, but then how he changed his life was more highlighted.
The lifespan of Samrat Ashoka was staged wondrously by the students of Madhya Pradesh School of Drama (MPSD). The play ‘Samrat Ashoka’ was staged here on Tuesday at Antarang Hall, Bharat Bhavan wherein the artists showcased the life of Ashoka Samrat and his inclination towards Buddhism.
The interesting part of the play was that it was non-verbal play which was performed after seven long years by MPSD. Directed by Partho Bandhopadhyay, the play was performed by the students of MPSD batch 2017.
The play began with introducing Samrat Ashoka, the king of the Maurya Empire as one of the cruel kings of all times. He knew no boundaries of victamisation. He could do all possible things to trouble his people. In short, he was not a good king and not a good human being.
After the Kalinga war, Ashoka converted to Buddhism. As he turned to Buddhism, he gives the entire royal treasure in charity for which he was prisoned by his royal minister Radha Gupt.
The best part of the play was the war scenes presented on stage. The presentation of martial arts, sword fighting and fighting scenes with bamboo sticks added charisma on stage.It is to be noted that one month long research and preparation of Samrat Ashoka was carried out by MPSD for which they visited Sanchi to learn about Samrat Ashoka.
The MPSD usually brings innovations in its performances and even this time, the students presented enthralling performance on stage. The war scenes and the transformation scenes of Samrat Ashoka were spell bindingly performed which was much appreciated by the audience.