“Kavyeshu Natakam Ramyam Tatra Ramya Shakuntala" – Amongst all forms of literature drama is the finest and amongst those dramas Shakuntala.  Kalidasa’s Abhijana Shakuntalam is rated as one of the finest work of Sanskrit literature.  The Rasarang group under the direction of Poornima Risbud made a bold attempt of translating this piece of work into a dance drama. They presented the dance drama at the Casey Theater at Regis College on November 3, 2012.  The program was presented in partnership with Samskrita Bharati and Learnquest Academy.

As the curtains opened one was immediately drawn to the spectacular pictures that formed the backdrop.  To the accompaniment of spectacular music arranged by Praveen D. Rao, the Rasaranga artists proceeded to tell us the tale of Shakuntala through dance.  Pallavi Nagesha as Menaka dazzled in her beautiful costume as the seductress who had the ability to shake Vishwamitra’s penance. As the drama unfolded each costume turned out be beautifully designed.

“The tale has a two parts – a earthly tale and a heavenly tale. In the first half, the earthly chariot ride of Dushyanta, the protagonist takes him to Shakuntala. He meets her and that half ends with sorrow as Dushyanta is separated from Shakuntala. In the second half,  Dushyanta takes a ride in a heavenly chariot that brings him great joy and unites him with his son and Shakuntala.  Perhaps Kalidasa is talking about the happiness and sorrow at a spiritual and materialistic level” said Shekar Shastri, who served as the Sutradar for the event.  

The Rasarang group took us through all the different scenes with Shachi Risbud as Shakuntala and Poornima Risbud as Dushyantha.  The play ended on the beautiful note of the reuniting of Dushyanta with his son Bharata and his love Shakutala. The troupe had constructed large props including a boat and an authentic throne – all of which was created by the 75- year old father of Poornima. What a marvelous accomplishment indeed!

What was the motivation for them to bring this production to Boston? “We wanted to do a show that would attract a lot of people.  In order to do that we felt Sanskrit would be a language of choice. Once that decision was made we felt Shakuntalam would be a great piece to work with” said Poornima Risbud. 

The production was co-sponsored by Samkrita Bharati and Learnquest.. “I am from Ujjain, the birth place of Kalidasa. In his memory Ujjain maintains the tradition of hosting productions of the works of Kalidasa. Perhaps we can send this production to Ujjain” said Pradeep Shukla, the founder of Learnquest Academy.  â€œThe production picked verses from each of the chapters and that was delightful” said Anantha Krishnan, the representative from Samskrita  Bharati.

Kudos to Rasarang for their bold attempt to present a classic – arguably one of the finest classics ever written to the New England audience

More information on the production and comments from the audience may be found on the Rasarang site.