An epic retelling of a legendary character

CHENNAI: Mahabharata, one of the two revered epics in India is replete with strong characters, easter egg moments and philosophical messages that have traversed through time — from movies, books to serial and theatre adaptations, the story has time and again been retold. Veshadharis, a city-based theatre group has also made it to this list. The group will bring the story of a legendary character — Shikhandi — alive on stage, today.

The 60-minute production will portray the karmic cycle of Shikhandi, perhaps one of the earliest transgender characters known in mythology. “The story is an adaptation of a script by actor and writer Ashwani Mohanlal,” says Chandrasekar Venkataraman, director of the play.
In several versions of the Mahabharata, the story of Amba reincarnating as Shikhandi is a recurring trope. The theatre group will present this story, and the karmic cycle of the character with theatrics, music and dance.

“Shikhandi is one of the obscured characters in the Mahabharata instrumental in killing Bhishma. The play will revolve around the four stages of Karma — the sufferings of Amba, her rebirth as Shikhandi to take revenge, her role in the war and more. It will also be laced with philosophy,” he says.
The theatre troupe will not be using period costumes, clarifies Chandrasekar. “We will be combining Indian storytelling with a lot of contemporary aesthetics. A city-based design studio, SAA, is helping us with the costumes,” he shares.

The process of reading the original script, adapting it to a play and finally shaping it into a breathing piece of art, took the group about three months. “We had to look at several compositions of the tale and weave it into a wholesome package. The rehearsals have been in full swing for the past two months,” he explains.
The cast comprises Vinayashree Jagadeesh, Nandita Sri, Ashwani Mohanlal, MN Arvind, Janaki Suresh and Shubh Mukherjee.

“After Shikhandi, we have another production in the pipeline. It will be staged in April. After that, we are planning to take Shikhandi to places like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kerala,” he shares.

(‘Shikhandi’ will be staged today at Alliance Francaise of Madras from 4.15 pm onwards. For tickets, visit www.bookmyshow.com)