“Draupadi", a play in English, interweaving tales from the epic past with contemporary Indian life.
The play draws attention to the roles of women in society throughout the ages, through an exploration of the dramatic and compelling figure of Draupadi herself.
The play is set to be both a poetic piece of drama and a truly dazzling affair. Some of India’s foremost names in the arts have joined together to create a wonderful spectacle, with Ritu Kumar designing costumes, Aman Nath conceptualizing the set design, Anjolie Ela Menon’s intense painting being the signature of the play, and Shubha Mudgal lending her wonderful voice to the production.
Draupadi - Will my spirit live on?
(a Shivani Wazir Pasrich Production)
Roy Arias Theatre, NYC.
March 16-20, 2011
To purchase tickets for Draupadi – Will my spirit live on?, please click on: https://www.sulekha.com/ticketsV3/buytickets.aspx?cid=602336
Dates & times:
March 16th – 18th at 8 pm
March 19th at 2 pm and 8 pm
March 20th at 5 pm Theatre location:
Roy Arias Theatre
300 West 43rd Street (between 8th & 9th)
NY 10036, New York
Synopsis of the play
Centuries have gone by since the Mahabharat war, yet Draupadi is still here. Stuck between heaven and earth, roaming the streets and pondering her fate and her choices.
Her only confidant is Lord Krishna. She tries to resolve with him why women must continue to suffer as she had in the past.
Krishna, the orchestrator of fate, leads her to Maaya- a woman of today, who has suffered much abuse at the hands of society. A distraught Maaya attempts suicide, but Draupadi stops her and offers her help in return for a favor.
Maaya treads through her life in Draupadi’s footsteps, and in the end she too must make a choice- will she choose revenge or resilience? Will she be Draupadi’s salvation? Will Krishna be able to address centuries old smoldering wounds?
Re-looking once again at the most misunderstood Nayika in Indian Epics… Shivani Wazir Pasrich Productions Presents "DRAUPADI"
Length: 90 min
Directed by
Shivani Wazir Pasrich has been working on the contours of the depiction of Draupadi and comprehension of her spirit. The idea of doing a play based on Panchali germinated as she produced her last stage production about Karna. Draupadi is an icon of strength, determination and achievement and this play uses the story to inspire and share experiences of courage.
Professional Odissi dancer, actress, compere, director and producer Shivani Wazir Pasrich has planned this production as a ‘Spectacle with Soul’. Shivani has acted in musicals, like ‘Annie’ and ‘West Side Story’, in plays, like ‘The Maids’, ‘The See Saw’ and ‘Kamana’ and in comedies like ‘The Dear Departed’, ‘Black Comedy’ and ‘Who Done It’ written and directed by Shah Rukh Khan. She played major roles in three of Mahesh Dattani’s plays ‘Dance Like a Man’, ‘Where There is a Will’ and ‘Bravely Fought The Queen’ and performed in ‘Larki Seedhi Rahegi’ at the NSD theatre festival in Bangalore. She also acted in films like Yash Chopra’s ‘Dil to Pagal Hai’. Shivani graduated from Delhi University in Economics Honours and then completed her Law degree. She won the Miss India Worldwide and Miss Talent title in 1992. She was part of the launch team of Lok SabhaTV. Now she is set to embark on the mega store production.
Tina Johnson has worked professionally in New York city and Johannesburg and cape town at the Market theater and the Baxter theater. She has directed such plays as; Hamlet, lysistrata, the coolie odyssey, a colored place and the award winning plays: Itsoseng and Out of Bounds - both of which won firsts at the Edinburgh Theater festival and were performed successfully in London. She has also trained actors and directors, worked as a mentor for university students at the Grahamstown national arts festival, worked as the artistic director for the playwrights festival at the market theater and the Sibikwa theater festival and served as the deputy chair of the Gauteng theater practitioners, as well as written extensively on arts policy for the performing arts.
Cast and Crew
Team-
Produced and Conceptualised by - Shivani Pasrich
Directed by - Tina Johnson & Shivani Pasrich
Costumes by - Ritu Kumar
Signature Design by - Anjolie Ela Menon
Music by - Shubha Mudgal
Set Design by Aman Nath
Cast-
Shivani Pasrich as Draupadi
Charu Shankar as Maaya
Dilip Shankar as Krishna
Sanjit Bedi as Kaurav Aggarwal
Arjun Fauzdar as Arjun Aggarwal
Aniruddha Das as Arjun
Supriya Bagga Manchanda as Ammaji
Ashish Paliwal as Sukaran Bheduri
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