Why Not Theatre Brings Visually-Stunning Spectacle MAHABHARATA to the National Arts Centre’s 2024-2025 Season
Toronto, Canada – Why Not Theatre is thrilled to announce that its monumental, two-part production, Mahabharata, will be included in the National Arts Centre’s (NAC) 2024-2025 season. After announcing a Toronto run with Canadian Stage for April 2025, the production’s creative team looks forward to this exciting next stop in Ottawa. The NAC revealed their season lineup today, with Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1) and Mahabharata: Dharma (Part 2) set to run from May 13 -24, 2025 at the Babs Asper Theatre.
Created and written by Why Not Theatre Co-Artistic Directors Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes, Mahabharata is a contemporary take on a Sanskrit epic that is more than four thousand years old and foundational to South Asian culture. Mahabharata is captivating audiences worldwide, garnering critical and public acclaim in 2023 during its world premiere at the Shaw Festival and its sold-out run at the Barbican, London.
A visually-stunning spectacle presented over two parts, Mahabharata is an exploration of profound philosophical and spiritual ideas. Karma (Part 1) traces the origin story of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans, illuminating themes of storytelling, ecocide, and empathy, and featuring an international ensemble of 20 actors, dancers and live musicians. Dharma (Part 2) continues the story from Part 1, interrogating themes of justice and revenge, and including a 15-minute Sanskrit opera adaptation of the Bhagavad Gita – the most famous chapter of The Mahabharata epic.
Why Not Theatre is honoured to partner with the NAC to present the epic Mahabharata in Ottawa, marking a significant moment in the production’s history. This presentation symbolizes the culmination of a journey that began with the critical support of the NAC’s National Creation Fund, which was instrumental in the initial development of the play and its subsequent international tour to the prestigious Barbican, London. The presentation of Mahabharata to Babs Asper Theatre represents not just a homecoming, but also a tribute to a partnership that has significantly shaped the trajectory of this ambitious project.
Performance Details
MAHABHARATA
A Why Not Theatre Production
Presented by the National Arts Centre
Created and written by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes
Using poetry from Carole Satyamurti’s Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling
Directed by Ravi Jain
With associate director Miriam Fernandes
Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1)
May 13 — 24, 2025
Babs Asper Theatre
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Mahabharata: Dharma (Part 2)
May 14 — 24, 2025
Babs Asper Theat
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Creative Team
Lorenzo Savoini, Set Designer
Gillian Gallow, Costume Designer
Kevin Lamotte, Lighting Designer
Mikael Kangas, Associate Lighting Designer
Hana S. Kim, Projection Designer
Ann Slote, Associate Projections Designer
John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran, Original Music and Sound Design
Hasheel Lodhia, Traditional Music Consultant
Brandy Leary, Choreographer, with contributions from Jay Emmanuel and Ellora Patnaik
Sharada K Eswar, Creative Associate, Khana & Kahani Storyteller
Kevin Matthew Wong, Lead Producer
Crystal Lee, Production Manager
Karen Tisch, Why Not Theatre Executive Director
Regular tickets and season subscriptions for the National Arts Centre’s 2024-2025 season will be available starting June 18th, 2024 at 10 AM ET.
For more information about Mahabharata, visit whynot.theatre/mahabharata
Mahabharata was originally commissioned and presented by the Shaw Festival, in association with the Barbican, London. The Ottawa run of Mahabharata is presented by the National Arts Centre, with remount support from the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. The production was made possible by the generosity of the Shaw Festival, Canada Council for the Arts, Canada’s National Arts Centre and its National Creation Fund, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, The Slaight Family Foundation, Kingfisher Foundation, Deb Barrett & Jim Leech, Lindy Green Family Foundation, Wuchien Michael Than Foundation, and TO Live.
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For media inquiries, interviews, or additional information, please contact:
Kevin Matthew Wong
Mahabharata Lead Producer
[email protected]
About Why Not Theatre:
Founded in 2007, Why Not Theatre is a Toronto-based theatre company with an international scope. Dedicated to rethinking how stories are told and who gets to tell them, Why Not has established a reputation for inventive and cross-cultural collaborations. Over 16 years, Why Not has developed 55 new works, which have toured to over 40 cities and 81 stops, including the world-wide hit A Brimful of Asha, performed more than 300 times globally, and the critically-acclaimed Mahabharata. The company is led by Co-Artistic Directors Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain and Executive Director Karen Tisch.
About the National Arts Centre:
The National Arts Centre (NAC) is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces, and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety — and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.
