I am Rashma – a playwright and published author. I have worked in Australia and India. For two years now, I have been working on creating new plays using the Natyashastra as the basis. Natyashastra is the most ancient text on drama and performing arts. This endeavour will mark the renascence of ancient Indian drama on modern stage. And I need your help to stage the first play in the series.
Padma Shri Prahasana
‘Padma Shri Prahasana’ is the first play that I have written in the series of modern prahasanas. ‘Padma Shri Prahasana’ was in development for a year-and-a-half. Prof Bharat Gupt has been guiding it’s development. The play had its first public reading at the India Habitat Center in December, 2016. The script was rewritten in 2017 and performed at IGNCA on 27th July, 2018. The premiere production was directed by Vineet Chopra of ‘The Great Indian Storytellers’.
Theme
‘Padma Shri Prahasana’ is a satire on the system of awards in India and the politicking for awards. The play mocks artists, scholars, and the English-speaking intelligentia of the country. At the heart of the play is a conflicted musician caught in the trap of lobbying for awards and chasing concerts. The play goes into deeper issues such as – is Indian classical music a sadhana and a means to connect to the divine or an art to be sold in the market place?
Why We Need Your Help
We are re-staging the play at the JNU Convention Center on 23rd December. We have received generous support from Vision India Foundation and Indic Academy. However, since we have made it a non-ticketed, open-to-public show, we need funds to stage the play and pay the artists. Most of the time artists go unpaid in the country. This has brought down the quality of theater. Please help us put on a great show. Donate to us here.
Indic Academy has supported this play with an amount of Rs. 50,000 through the Smt. Jayalakshmi Narasimhan Endowment for Women Scholars and Public Intellectuals. IndicToday requests it’s readers to donate generously and make this play a success.
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