Vidhuran

After Vadavooran, this is the next stage play under the Shraddha umbrella and I went for it with my wife and son today. Vidhuran is performed in a mime (No dialogs except for a brief introduction) format which is new to Chennai. To tell Mahabharat in this format is a bold step by MacTrics, a Mime and Body Theatre Group formed in 2009. Their facebook page introduces the play as “Inspired from the Vidura of Mahabharata, Vidhuran is an amalgamation of three performing arts – Theatre, Dance, and Mime combined to tell a single story. With an enthralling Monologue at its narrative core, snippets of scintillating Mime presentations and stylized, Contemporary Bharathnatyam intersect the main narration at apposite moments, accentuating the high points in the show”.

The play is directed by a young Assistant Director from Kollywood “Victor” and Dramatised & Narrations by Industry veteran Mr.Vietnam Veedu Sundaram

You can see in YouTube the trailer from their performance of the same play last year in Chennai.

For the play today which ran for 90 minutes (started exactly @7PM as printed in invite) they had taken the Mahabharat Wax Palace story. The initial scene of Royal Darbar was breath-taking with everything on stage including Chairs, Royal Throne was made (what do I call this?) of actors – see the 3rd picture above you will see it. In the following scenes it became more complex – with a huge ship (picture 2 above) being brought to life and it moved on the stage with people inside it; a water falls and river; a water fountain inside the palace; a wax tunnel that was crumbling; horses with people riding on top it. The dancers performed with precision, grace and skill. The music was apt & brought the story to life making you forget there are no dialogs.

Overall a brilliant performance. Congratulations to the entire team. Never miss this if they come to a stage near you.

Finally, my son surprisingly enjoyed this thoroughly.