As part of Nandikar’s on-going 20th National Theatre Festival, the National School of Drama Repertory Company, Delhi, presents G.P. Deshpande’s historical play, Chanakya Vishnugupta, this evening. The play is an adaptation from Vishakhadatta’s famous Sanskrit work, Mudra Rakshasa. It explores the political scenario of ancient India and how cunningly diplomacy was used to manipulate political powers. The central character of the play is Chanakya, an extremely intelligent man with great political acumen. A king-maker who can play the intriguing game rather well, Chanakya takes Alexander’s help to dethrone King Nanda and installs Chandragupta as the new ruler. Chandragupta has immense faith in Chanakya, who helps the king to take all decisions. He forces Chandragupta to create a senior ministerial berth for Rakshasa, a loyal minister of King Nanda. Chanakya believes that for a ruler there is no room for sentiments and forces Chandragupta to dump his fiancee, Suvasini, because he believes, a king’s marriage should be guided by political needs. His personal whims and preferences do not really matter. The play revolves around the conflict between Chanakya’s dream of building an empire and Suvasini’s fight for a dignified existence in society. Design and direction by Souty Chakraborty.

When: Today at 6.30 pm

Where: Academy of Fine Arts