Thirty years after his legendary nine-hour version of the Mahabharata, director Peter Brook returns to the 3,000-year-old Sanskrit epic focusing this time on a single passage toward the end of the story on the aftermath of a climactic battle. Dealing with issues of death, grief, responsibility, and reconciliation, the ancient text remains relevant today and the new play, currently being performed at the Capital Theatre in Singapore, took on a particularly poignant significance given the ongoing fighting in Syria and recent multi-location terrorist attacks.The Mahabharata speaks of a great war of extermination, which tears apart the Bharata family. On one side there are five brothers, the Pandavas, and on the other their cousins, the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind King Dritarashtra. Standing on the battlefield where millions have died, the eldest of the Pandavas, Yudishtira, is victorious and about to become King. But this is not a triumphant king, but a reluctant one full of grief and guilt, one who learns that one of those killed on the Kauravas side was actually his half-bother and must also deal with the defeated King Dritarashtra, his uncle and distressed father. As both former king and new king question their actions in the aftermath of the disaster, they consider fundamental issues such as the responsibilities of those left standing in the battlefield, on both sides, and how to move on from the atrocities.Instead of a grand epic, Brook and his long time co-director Marie-Helene Estienne now offer a tighter 70-minute, inward-looking production (written by Jean-Claude Carrier) on an almost bare stage with only sticks and shawls as props for the four actors: Jared McNeill (Yudhishthira), Carole Karemera (Yudhishthira's mother), Ery Nzaramba (adviser Krishna), and Sean O'Callaghan (Dritarashtra). The play starts with the sound of a lone drum (Japanese musician Toshi Tsuchitori performing throughout), with the empty stage saturated in red light to echo the human devastation on the field where 700 million soldiers have died. “How can I live on this earth with everything that has happened?” Yudishtira asks. “You will have to live with your sorrow,” his mother replies.As the dialogue unfolds, general, universal wisdoms are offered, distilled through short children’s stories – the falcon and the dove, the worm, the boy and the snake, the mongoose. This is a play to make one think within a greater context of contemporary issues, the important part we all have in checking accountability, of our responsibilities to others, and the cyclicality of life, the importance of not giving up.The production premiered at Brook's long-time theatrical home, the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris last month, and will move on to tour Asia and Europe over the next few months: Tokyo (Nov 25-29), London (Feb 3-27, 2016), Hong Kong (Mar 16-20) New York (Sep 21-25, 2016 and Sep 27-Oct 8), amongst othersThe play is now on at the Capitol Theatre, Singapore until Nov 20.
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