BENGALURU: Dramanon, Bengaluru is presenting ‘Akshayambara’, a form of Yakshagana which is an experimental Kannada dance drama. It creates a contemporary narrative that raises questions on female representation and male ownership that uses modern theatrical tools .
Drawing influence from research and personal experience, the performance imagines a reversal of roles in the popular Yakshagana plot of ‘Draupadi Vastrapaharana’. A veteran male artiste in streevesha (female disguise) plays the virtuous Draupadi, while in a tradition defying move, an amateur woman is cast as chief antagonist, Kaurava.
The performers confront questions like when tradition allows a man to play a woman will the same tradition accept the reverse, how does her entry redefine who is man and who is woman, who wields power, who is hero and antagonist, victim and perpetrator as they shift between stage and greenroom, between male and female, stage and reality, personal and political, their tussle offering radically new perspectives on tradition, gender, power and morality. This play was also nominated for the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META), where it won the Best Original Script and Best Actor in a Lead Role (Male).
The play is taking place on January 24,7:30 pm onwards at Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar.