MAHABHARATA: THE WOMEN

We are pleased to invite you to a performance of Mahabharata: The Women, musical play, to be held at the Indian Heritage Academy (IHA), Koramangala, Bengaluru. This is a dress rehearsal and an open event for connoisseurs of theatre and music and patrons of the Indian Heritage Academy.

Date: 13 March 2025, 6:30 PM

Venue: IHA, Koramangala, Bengaluru. https://maps.app.goo.gl/nMYLZ3NfmLwPT1aR8

MAHABHARATA: THE WOMEN

Stories of Kunti, Draupadi and Gandhari

Adapted and told by Gauri Raje

Musically directed and performed by Mairi Campbell

Directed by Kath Burlinson

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Duration: 60mins |  Age: 12+

Limited seats, RSVP: https://forms.gle/WGi2AdLmAajLCUd38

About the play:

The Mahabharata is described as a river with multiple streams feeding it; certain stories are self-contained, like eddies in water, while other stories feed the river. There are whirlpools, where the narrative asks questions of itself or negates itself during the telling. Over the centuries, the Mahabharata has been fed by multiple versions of the same stories – from the puranas (religious commentaries), folk versions and indigenous versions.

This telling of the Mahabharata is woven from the classical and folk versions of the epic. It follows the story of three queens – Kunti, Draupadi and Gandhari – key players in the story of the fratricidal clan war between the Pandavas (five brothers) and their cousins, the Kauravas (one hundred brothers). It is an attempt to look at their complicity in the war and its consequences on them. The original version of the Mahabharata was called ‘Jaya’ (victory). But what kind of a victory is it? This is a question the epic asks.

The story of clan wars and human dilemmas in the Mahabharata is reflected in the folk histories of Scotland and its musical forms. Mairi Campbell adapts these forms through songs and ballads to find moments of interconnection between the Mahabharata and Scottish legends and histories.

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Performers

Gauri Raje is a migrant, storyteller and anthropologist based in Scotland and India. She is fascinated by myths and their power to hold community memories and has been increasingly working with the ways in which stories allow migrants to create a relationship with the land they settle in. She is a member of the Directory of Scottish Storytellers and has told stories at various festivals in the UK, Europe and India. She tells stories in various languages, including Urdu, Hindi, English and other Indian languages, such as Gujarati and Marathi. Her notable projects include directing East of the Sun, West of the Moon a collection of stories for adults from around the world translated and told in three different Indian languages; Badlands, a storytelling of folk stories of the land and rivers of central India; Tales of Exile and Sanctuary, stories from around the world exploring themes of exile; Tales of Ice and Fire, which includes stories of two goddesses from Scotland and India and Old Deccan Tales, a performance with stories collected by the daughter of a British colonial officer which were told to her by her ayah (Indian nanny).

Mairi Campbell is a pioneering Scottish musician whose work is rooted in and draws from her personal stories and cultural concerns. After studying classical viola at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, she has become an established member of Scotland’s traditional music scene, pushing the boundaries with her use of free improvisation, songs and stagecraft. As an interpreter of Scots songs, with David Francis, Mairi has contributed a significant number of songs to its current canon. She is the recipient of six national music awards, including the Inspiration Award in 2018. Her award-winning Pendulum Trilogy: Pulse (2016), Auld Lang Syne (2018) and Living Stone have received critical acclaim and toured widely. Mairi plays a Victor Unsworth viola that she acquired at the age of seventeen.

Kath Burlinson specialises in devised/ensemble work. Credits include: When Mountains Meet (Celtic Connections, Scottish Tour); Mairi Campbell: Pulse, Auld Lang Syne and Living Stone (Ed Fringe, Celtic Connections, Vault Festival, Made in Scotland Showcase), The Old House (High Tide, Camden Fringe), Motherhood: Unspeakable Unspoken (About Face Theatre, Brighton Dome), Stolen Voices, developed at National Theatre Studio, (Tête à Tête, Arcola, Grimeborn), Unbroken Line (Ovalhouse Theatre), Emily: the making of a militant suffragette (Cambridge Devised Theatre and Production Exchange), Hallaig (Robhanis Theatre). Authentic Artist Collective Productions: Wolf (text Iain Finlay Macleod, Escalator East to Edinburgh), Tender Age (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), solo shows InVisible Lines (Assembly Roxy and Audacious Women Festival) and the award-winning The Mother's Bones. www.authenticartist.co.uk

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Host or Publisher Indian Heritage Academy