VietNamNet Bridge – Physical theater production Mahabharata from director Hiroshi Koike comes to Hanoi on July 16, giving audiences a glimpse of Indian culture.

A scene from physical theater production Mahabharata - Photo: Courtesy of organizers

The event is organized by the Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project, Cambodia’s Amrita Performing Arts and the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, sponsored by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, the foundation announced in a statement.

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic originally written in Sanskrit and has been regarded as the Hindu Bible, the resource of Indian philosophy, morals, politics and law. It is the story of a dynastic struggle that provides a social, moral and cosmological background to the climactic battle and covers all categories of storytelling, as the famous phrase in Mahabharata says: “What is found herein may also be found in other sources.

What is not found herein does not matter.”

This gigantic epic is, thus, a treasure house of ancient wisdom and can be an excellent reference point to think about human nature, which motivated Koike to perform this production, will be brought to the Youth Theater on Ngo Thi Nham Street in Hai Ba Trung District.

The characters in the story will be performed mainly by Cambodian actors equipped with traditional dance, backed up by a Japanese Bali dancer, a Japanese ballet dancer and a Malaysian Butoh dancer.  Each performer will play several roles by changing their masks. The story will be delivered mainly through physical movements topped with some music and summary of the story on screen.

The play is expected to inspire audiences not only in purely artistic sense but also aiming to get them to rethink their ideas on what is human nature. This stage performance is free but audiences are required to get advance tickets which will be distributed at the Japan Foundation at 27 Quang Trung Street in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District, tel: 04 3944 7419.

Koike is director, choreographer, writer and photographer. He founded the theatre company Pappa TARAHUMARA in 1982. He has directed 55 theatrical pieces for the company and his global work has brought him a high reputation around the globe.

In 2012 he closed the company and launched a new project “Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project” through which he aims to encourage people to think through their bodies, bridging the world through art projects. He has served as Artistic Director of Tsukuba Cultural Foundation (1997-2005) and Member of the Culture Promotion Committee of Aomori (1999).

Source: SGT