The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Invisible River’ set to enthral U.K. audience

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Sunday, Jun 22, 2008
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Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Invisible River’ set to enthral U.K. audience

M. Raghuram

BANGALORE: A city-based theatre group will stage a play, Invisible River, in England at Nehru Centre in London on July 16 and at Lilian Baylis Theatre in Sadler’s Well on July 18.

The play by Gautam Raja will be staged with support from the Department of Kannada and Culture, Academy of Music, Association of British Scholars, Avesthegen, Emirates and HRG Sita India.

The play is based on research by Mukund Thattai of the National Centre for Biological Sciences. It is “scientifically woven” around the social theme of the healing powers of the Ganges.

“The Invisible River shows that there is substance to the belief of millions of Hindus in the healing power of water of the Ganges.”

The scientific findings come handy here. The discovery that the bacteriophages, viruses which eat bacteria, purify the water through their unseen action could have a dramatic impact on those who bathe in the Ganges.

The play to be premiered in London has a few characters — Ajay (Pritham Kumar); his ailing mother (Sukhita Iyer); Jayant, Hindu priest (Harish Seshadri); Uma (Veena Appaiah); and Padma, politician (also played by Sukhita Iyer).

Invisible River is directed by Ruchika Chanana, who has an advanced diploma in directing from ARTTS in Leeds, England.

For Gautam Raja, this will be one of the many plays that have been played in India and abroad.

One of the runaway successes he found in the U.S. was the “Vydehi”, which was played at Lark theatre and Chautaqua Institution in New York recently.

The Artists’ Repertory Theatre company of Bangalore has staged 70 productions in the past 26 years in India and the United Kingdom.

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