Actor decodes ‘magic’ of Peter Brook’s iconic work

Renowned actor-director Vijaya Mehta, who is held in esteem for her landmark plays such as ‘Barrister’, ‘Purush’ and ‘Wada Chirebandi’, remembers Peter Brook, the theatre genius, who died at 97 the previous week. Mehta sat through Le Mahabharata — Brook’s nine-hour adaptation of the Indian epic, which premiered at the Festival D’Avignon, in France, way back in 1985 — with bated breath, trying to decode the magic and mystique of Brook’s iconic production.

- Ambarish Mishra

Q:Tell us about your association with Peter Brook.

A:I first met him in Bhopal way back in the 1980s. He was there for the opening of Bharat Bhavan. We all were there — Shombhu Mitra, Dr. Kumud Mehta, Habib Tanveer, Satyadeo Dube, Sunil Kothari. He also held a workshop in Bharat Bhavan, and spoke about the inevitable truth which theatre offers to actors and connoisseurs. A play is a series of divine moments, he said. Later, Brook held workshops in six major cities, including Kolkata where he chose a Mahabharata episode and tweaked it artistically with the Chhau folk dance form. This was perhaps the first indication that he was eager to re-interpret Mahabharata on a large scale. The Mumbai workshop, held at the NCPA, was a runaway success as Brook discussed his idea of theatre as an instrument to connect with the strife-torn world and offer hope to people across the globe.

Q:Tell us about the La Mahabharata premiere held in the Festival D’Avignon.