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Ideal vs. real

Contemporary classic From "One Day in Ashadha"

The Madras Players, in association with DIA, present the play “One Day in Ashadha”, Mohan Rakesh’s contemporary Hindi classic. It has been translated by V. Ramnarayan. The design, direction and music are by Gowri Ramnarayan.

The cast includes P.C.Ramakrishna, Anita Ratnam, V. Balakrishnan, Akhila Ramnarayan, Vasudev Menon, Sunandha Ragunathan, Vidyuth Srinivasan, Aarabi Veeraraghavan, Shreya Yadav, Vinay Karthik, Amitash Pradhan and Sreekanth Sankardass. The vocals are by Amritha Murali and Swarna Rethas, the dance choreography by Sheejith Krishna and the dancers are Anjana Anand and Sheejith Krishna.

The sound is by Harish Swaminathan, lights by Karm Chawla, costumes by Lakshmi Srinath, props by Vidyuth Srinivasan and the sets by Michael Muthu.

As for the story… dismissed as a wastrel by the community, Kalidasa, a young cowherd in a remote village, finds his only support in Mallika, who believes in his genius despite her mother Ambika’s hostility towards him.

Vilom, who loves Mallika, warns her that Kalidasa loves no one but himself. Mallika persuades Kalidasa to accept a royal appointment as Poet Laureate and go to the capital, Ujjaini. Despite Ambika’s illness and their increasing poverty, Mallika rejoices in Kalidasa’s fame and glory, even when he marries the Gupta princess and becomes king. She is distressed only when Kalidasa revisits the village with his queen, but not Mallika’s home.

Years later, the motherless, destitute Mallika, with a child of her own, sees a drenched, dishevelled Kalidasa stumbling into her home again. Dislocated from his roots, he can be neither a poet nor a politician.

Can he make a new beginning with Mallika?

Hindi playwright Mohan Rakesh refashions the story of the archetypal poet to raise disturbing questions: can fame corrupt the soul? Can material success destroy creativity? Can a poet whose work is visionary be blind about life?

Through “One Day in Ashadha”, the director Gowri Ramnarayan tries to explore the yawning chasm between poetry and reality, beauty and ugliness. In this production, Rakesh’s play becomes a frame narrative from which Kalidasa’s own writings emanate.

The one-hour-fifty-minute play will be staged on July 10, 11 and 12, 7.15 p.m. at the Sivakami Pethachi Auditorium, Luz Church Road. For details/ tickets contact 9381911977 or 9840080783.

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