Mahabharata Part 1 & Part 2

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Mahabharata is a contemporary take on a Sanskrit epic that is more than four thousand years old and foundational to South Asian culture. This gripping story of a family feud is an exploration of profound philosophical and spiritual ideas. A visually stunning spectacle presented in two parts, Mahabharata takes audiences on a journey through the past in order to write a thrilling new future.

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Mahabharata Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit

King Janamejaya is holding a ritual sacrifice in which he will kill all the snakes in the world to avenge his father’s death. In hopes of ending this cycle of revenge, a storyteller is summoned to tell King Janamejaya the tale of The Mahabharata. The storyteller tells of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans, and the choices that lead to their infamous Game of Dice. Through playful narration, classical Indian dance, and a live band, the ensemble tells the stories of humans struggling to build a just world in the face of competition, jealousy, and rage. Exploring the themes of storytelling, ecocide, and dharma (empathy), Part 1 begins Mahabharata’s epic journey that asks, “When everyone believes they are right and their opponents wrong, how can one end a spiral of revenge?” 

Mahabharata Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose

King Janamejaya is told of the war fought by his ancestors – the battle of Kurukshetra and its devastating destruction of the planet, the mass extinction that follows, and of the survivors left behind to rebuild. In Mahabharata’s Part 2 (Dharma), the storytelling tools evolve into captivating projections, dynamic digital soundscapes, and poetic stage design. The stories delve simultaneously into philosophical and political ideas, and abstract and absolute truths. Interrogating the themes of justice and revenge, Part 2 includes a 15-minute Sanskrit opera adaptation of the Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God), which is the most sacred and famous chapter of the Mahabharata epic. The Bhagavad Gita tells of a conversation between the God Krishna and the great warrior Arjuna. 
 
In times of division, how do we find wholeness? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors? Can we build a new world? King Janamejaya is confronted with the battle of Kurukshetra, and the battle inside his own heart.