Bhavai to hit stages in NZ, Australia

Surat: Gujarat's traditional folk theatre form Bhavai will be performed in New Zealand, with shows being staged in Auckland for five days, July 22 to 26, to acquaint New Zealand-born Gujaratis with this form. Twenty artists, including dancers and singers, will present the full-length (75 minutes) play ‘Rang Gheli: The Bhavai Saga' at Auckland's Basement Theatre. New Zealand's ministry of ethnic communities supported the Gujarati diaspora by funding the Gujarati Sahitya Mandal (NZ). The Bhavai team also plans to perform the play in English later. Shailesh Prajapati, a Gujarati film director and theatre artist, is the play's director and plays one of the lead roles as ‘Guru'. "After presenting many Gujarati plays in New Zealand, we thought of making our new generation here aware of Gujarat's folk theatre form, Bhavai. Its cultural legacy goes back to the 14th century when Asait Thaker would propagate social messages and education through these plays. There was a time when the Gujarat govt offered a diploma in Bhavai but now this form of theatre is hard to find. Before it goes extinct, it is our duty to revive it. The New Zealand govt also came forward, offering 15,000 dollars to support this." The play, based on ‘Guru Ganika', was written by Gujarati writer Madhav Ramanuj and drew from a 7th-century Sanskrit farce. "It is a story of a spiritual monk whose soul accidentally enters the body of a seductive courtesan — thanks to a blunder by the angel of death. This situation led to chaos. It was a fearless blend of satire, music, dance and outrageous humour. After the five Auckland shows, we will tour other cities in New Zealand and Australia. We plan to also perform this in English to address a wider audience," Prajapati said. Besides Prajapati, Rupal Solanki, Devang Chauhan, Shweta Divekar, Ekta Gohil, Chirag Solanki, Jayesh Bateriwala and Ronak Vala have parts in the play. Nisarg Trivedi composed the music. Numerous rehearsals have been done since March, with the total production costing 37,000 New Zealand dollars. As full-length Bhavai performances have almost disappeared in Gujarat, this diaspora-level presentation is notable.