The dynamics between an estranged father-son duo

The play

Kaumudi

blends the splendour and the travails of theatre with the

Mahabharata

. Using the moonlit, timeless night, when Krishna delivered knowledge to Arjuna as its central trope, Kaumudi explores the dynamics between an estranged father-son duo, who play Eklavya’s ghost and Abhimanyu respectively, in a theatre in the late 1960s in Allahabad. Over three days – the last three performances of a great actor, who has nearly lost his sight – the play brings to light the ghosts of caste-based injustices, the passing over of knowledge from a father to a son, a thespian to an upstart, the banality and beauty of art, and how an efficient mode of production ultimately replaces a lesser-efficient mode. The play is inspired by two texts – Anand’s Malayalam novel ‘Vyasam Vigneswaram’ and Jorge Luis Borges’ essay ‘Blindness’, and at its core, is about a rite of passage.

The play is written and directed by

Abhishek Majumdar

, and it features actors Gopal Datt, Kumud Mishra,

Sandeep Shikhar

,

Shubhrajyoti Barat

and

Nikhil Nagaraj

.

It is scheduled to take place at

Ranga Shankara

on June 23, 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm.