The Peacock Prince

About the play:

From the despondency of unrequited dreams, arises the scion of the Panchala kingdom, albeit in a new birth, unable to shake off the pain and anguish caused to her gender; the shackling and abuse. Amba takes birth in Drupada’s palace, a gift bestowed by Shiva. Raised with the garb and education of a boy, she believes herself to be one… and in a chance universal shake of the dice transforms into one, by an ancient procedure. Now the young prince seeks redemption that can only be granted by the death of Bheesma, her abductor and bete noire.

The play arises from the ithihasa Mahabharata, but chooses to seek answers and resolutions in a modern day society that exposes its confusion, fear, and lack of empathy for those who identify themselves beyond the binary. The play is an attempt to seek new definitions, new meaning to roles and responsibilities that have been historically gender specific.

Written by V.Balakrishnan

Performed and Designed by Anuradha Venkataraman

Music by Srividya Ramanth and Rajesh TK

Duration:70mins

Suitable for 16+

About Anuradha Venkataraman

Anuradha Venkataraman is a Bharatanatyam dancer and a theatre practitioner. In her 25 years of professional dancing she has performed widely in India and Abroad. Anuradha is an A graded artist of Delhi Doordarshan and an empanelled artist with ICCR. Apart from performing margam she has choreographed 6 full length productions based on contemporary themes. Academically she has an MPhil degree in Cultural studies from Jain University and was a gold medalist.

She was invited for OMI dance residency in New York and for puppet theatre residency in Seoul.

Anuradha recently collaborated with Instabili Vaganti a physical theatre company and created - Dante Beyond Borders, which premiered both in India and Italy .