Performance: A Re-Telling of an Indian epic poem, The Mahabharata

The Mahabharata by a Modern Vyasa and sage Jean Claude Carriere

Renowned French playwright, screenwriter, author, actor and raconteur par excellence, Jean-Claude Carriére gives Bay Area audiences a simple but powerful, one-man rendition of the story of Mahabharata, in the style of the old wandering minstrels of India. The Mahabharata, one of the greatest stories ever told, has passed down in a classical canon of Sanskrit verses, over 100,000 stanzas long. The authorship of The Mahabharata is attributed to sage Vyasa, himself a character in the epic, who dictated the story to his scribe, Lord Ganesha. Jean-Claude Carriére spent eleven years in India immersing himself in this, the longest epic ever written by man, tracing its roots in civilization, geography, and its relevance in modern India. His nine hour magnum opus, The Mahabharata, opened in 1985 under the stellar direction of his lifetime collaborator Peter Brook and an international cast, and quickly became a watershed moment in theatrical history across the Western world.

Introducing the performance is Carriére's longtime collaborator and friend, film director Phillip Kaufman. Philip Kaufman, celebrated for his sophisticated and reflective cinema, is best known for his masterpieces, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Right Stuff.  His latest film, Hemingway & Gellhorn, was produced by HBO and nominated for 15 Emmy Awards.  Kaufman and Jean Claude Carriere shared an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay for The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988).

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Tickets for this performance DO NOT include admission to China's Terracotta Warriors. 

This program is co-sponsored by SACHI and presented in collaboration with EnActe Arts.