Parijata: A New Musical Dance Drama Reinterpreting Mahabharata Through Folk Traditions

About Parijata

The play Parijata is based on an incident from the Mahabharata. While the story of Parijata is popular—performed as Sri Krishna Parijata in Karnataka using the Sannata folk theater form and as Parijat Haran in Assam using the Sattriya classical dance—this new production combines elements from both versions. The production attempts to reinterpret Krishna Parijata for contemporary times while questioning why Krishna had to wage war with Indra for the sake of Parijata. Retold through a musical dance drama, the play presents a strong message toward women's empowerment.

Writer: Shri. K. Y. Narayanaswamy

Shri. K. Y. Narayanaswamy (KYN), a Kannada poet, scholar, critic, and playwright, serves as a Kannada Professor at Maharani Cluster University, Bangalore. His extensive credits include popular Kannada plays such as Kalavu, Anabhigna Shakuntala, Chakraratna, Huliseere, Vinura Vema, adapting Kuvempu's Malegalalli Madumagalu into a nine-hour play, and winning the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for Pampa Bharatha.

Director: B. Jayashree

B. Jayashree, born in 1950, is a leading Indian theatre actor, director, and National School of Drama graduate (1973). Over a 68-year theatre journey, she has worked with directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B.V. Karanth, N.S. Venkataram, and Prasanna, acting and directing nearly 100 plays in Kannada, Hindi, English, and Konkani.

Serving as the creative director of the Bengaluru Kannada theatre troupe Spandana, B. Jayashree has directed and acted in over 50 plays, including Karimayi, Agnipatha, Girija Kalyana, Chitrapata Ramayana, Neevu Kaanire, and Parijata. Her direction of Lakshapathi Rajana Kathe took the production to the International Experimental Theatre Festivals in Cairo and Tashkent in 1989. She received the Safdar Hashmi Award in 1996 and the Padma Shri Award from the Government of India in 2013, alongside honors such as the Karnataka Nataka Academy Award, Central Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Rajyotsava Award, and B.V. Karanth Smrith Puraskar.

Director's Note

Reflecting on the production, B. Jayashree noted her long-standing wish to direct Parijata. Although K.Y. Narayanaswamy initially felt intimidated by the project, she convinced him to write it. The production draws heavily on the Sannata form, adapting its traditional performance area constraints to fit proscenium and open-air theatres. While maintaining folk and company theatre elements, the production avoids stereotyping characters—notably casting a female actor in the role of Krishna.

Theatre Group: Spandana

Established in 1975, Spandana adapts modern techniques to present Karnataka's folk traditions aesthetically. Known for experimental works and theatre design, the group's production Lakshapathi Rajana Kathe won best play at the National level before traveling internationally to Cairo and Tashkent. Spandana has adapted numerous novels, short stories, and poems into dramas, including Dr. Chandrashekhara Kambara's Karimayi, and utilized Ford Foundation Theatre lab grants to research rare folk art forms, resulting in plays like Agnipatha, Siri Sampige, and Chitrapata.