Theatre Production | 2018

A kingdom under siege. As the King contemplates surrender, his daughter comes to accept that her betrothal will form part of the terms. When events take a turn for the worse, her brother is left to deal with the consequences. Love and duty are sacrificed to the politics of betrayal, and vengeance.

Created by Dubai based writer & director Sanjeev Dixit, Sutradhar is a play in English inspired by the Natyashastra, Greek Classics, and Japanese Noh. Using techniques that have been around for millennia, Sutradhar presents a classic tale derived from the Indian epic Mahabharata to a modern, multicultural audience.

Sutradhar, an Indian word which literally translates to ‘the one who holds the strings’, implies a mastermind, a puppeteer even—a controller of the fortunes of those influenced, or manipulated. Yet, as the play asks at one point, “aren’t we all at some time both the puppeteer and the marionette?”

Approaching characters from the Mahabharata with a unique, modern perspective—even though the play is set in Indian antiquity— allows contextualizing and exploring these iconic characters in a new light and with certain awe.

“Sutradhar is essentially the backstory of Subala and his sister Saubali – the strong-willed Princess of Gandhara (the character I play). The plot takes the audience through the difficult circumstances they are forced to face and the choices they make that sow the seeds for the great Mahabharata war. The narrative is crafted so poignantly that you cannot but empathize with both Saubali and Saubala. Villains are only people like you and me villainized by their circumstance.”