Media Release April, 2015
Bedtime Story by Kiran Nagarkar from 4th June - 6th June 2015
at Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
An engaging plot based on ancient epic mixed with humour
and a parallel storyline
Bedtime Story is based on the Indian Epic, the Mahabharata. Set
in ancient India the Mahabharata tells a story about the deadly
enmity between two royal families, the Kauravas and the
Pandavas who were cousins. While the Pandavas were India’s
greatest warrior heroes, their side was favoured and supported
by Lord Krishna; the presiding deity of the Mahabharata and
India’s most human and beloved God. Each of the acts of Bedtime
Story is based on well-known episodes from the Mahabharata.
Kiran Nagarkar wrote Bedtime Story in the late 70s. When some
Hindu fundamentalist parties boycotted Nagarkar’s play, a legal
censorship was imposed forcing the prevention of any shows of
Bedtime Story for almost two decades. When Nagarkar visited
Byron Bay’s literary festival a few years ago Neel Banerjee of
Nautanki Theatre approached him to discuss Bedtime Story.
Nagarkar kindly gave Banerjee a copy of the play to read. Since
then it has been a steady journey that Nautanki Theatre has
embarked on to bring Bedtime Story to Sydney audiences.
Joyraj Bhattacharjee, an acclaimed theatre and film director and
actor is based in Calcutta. He has extensive experience working
both in India and overseas. Bhattacharjee directed Tagore’s play
Sacrifice in 2012 which was staged in Sydney. His expertise as a
director will bring passion and life to Nagarkar’s play Bedtime
Story.
Nautanki Theatre focuses on producing plays with a cross-cultural
plot that has connections to the Indian subcontinent. While the
Mahabharata is an ancient epic, the parallel storyline forces the
audience to consider the relevance of the ancient episodes of the
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