THEATRE

Gritty, ballsy, wickedly funny and politically effervescent, Mareech the Legend is a cult hit in modern Indian drama. In his cleverly crafted play-within-a-play, Bengali playwright, Arun Mukherjee draws parallels between different forms of human exploitation and power politics by transposing the action from a historic setting to contemporary times. Mukherjee draws his energizing ideas from many sources, including the great Indian epic, The Ramayana. Besides providing an intriguing character study into Mareech (the demon/master illusionist who took on the guise of a golden doe to assist Ravana in the abduction of Sita) this story also mimics more contemporary, relevant situations and delves into the psyche of oppressed Indian peasants who are manipulated by powerful, class-conscious, political bigwigs for their own gains. opens by richly imagining the prelude to one of the most famous scenes in the That is the great power of Mareech The Legend - that while it is rooted firmly in the past, its link to the present is explicit. Told with a mélange of dramatically different, engaging characters, all of whom refuse to let the play come to its logical conclusion by arguing with the soothsayers who string the narrative along with humor and song. Watch, as they all joust for space to re-live the relevance of an all-too-familiar Indian epic tale.