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| Shah Jahan Returns To Boston |
01/30/2014
Shah Jahan returns to the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA
When: February 7th, February 8th, and February 9th, 2014
About Shah Jahan
The historical play is a dramatization of the world's greatest love and worst treachery during the Mogul period in India,
The Mughal dynasty ruled most of India for over three hundred years, beginning in the early sixteenth century. Shah Jahan, the 5th Mughal emperor after Babur, the 10th direct male descendant of Timur, and the 18th descendant of the female line of Genghis Khan, was crowned in 1628 and subsequently ruled India for over three decades.
Emperor Shah Jahan had fourteen children with his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal but seven of them died at birth or at a very young age. Mumtaz died while giving birth to their youngest daughter, Gauhara Begum. The Emperor was devastated by her death. He mourned deeply, and decided to build the monument to love and in her memory which we know today as the Taj Mahal.
The Emperor's eldest son Dara was a loving husband and devoted son, and was avowedly secular and philosophical with much respect for all religions, mastering both the Quran and the Upanishads equally. The second son Suja was considered to be Emperor-quality and was deeply in love with his wife Piara. Aurangzeb, the third son, was a devout Muslim and quite politically shrewd. Murad, the impetuous youngest son, was the "black sheep" of the family and loved women and alcohol. Jahanara, the eldest of all siblings, took the place of Mumtaz as the first lady of the empire as per the wish of her dying mother. The girls of the dynasty could not marry, as was decreed by the law of Emperor Akbar, the paternal grandfather of Shah Jahan.
The Emperor sent Suja to rule the land of Bengal, Aurangzeb to rule the south, and Murad to rule the land of Gurjar. Dara stayed with his father in Agra as next in line to be Emperor. The brothers do not want to accept this situation, and become rebellious.
The frail emperor, gradually losing control over his empire, sends forces to various parts of Hindustan under Dara's command. The emperor struggles with the opposing forces of his love for his sons and his duty as the Emperor to crush the rebels. Will he succeed in his attempts?
About the Stage Ensemble Theater Unit
Setu's mission is to build bridges between Indian and Western cultures through the medium of theater. They selectively produce plays to project the ways of life in India in a global context. They attempt to highlight India's social, political and economic scenarios from the past and the present. India has a rich and diverse tradition in drama beginning from ancient times by Sanskrit playwrights. Indian theater has found expressions in diverse forms from folk theater to musicals to modern drama forms. SETU will attempt to present some of these in the contemporary context and, in the process, create a better appreciation of India's heritage and culture.
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