There are only few hours to go for the Vedanta ten-minute play festival which will take you to a journey of self- discovery through 22 plays set in the suburbs of contemporary Australia and 18th Century India.
The festival is focussed on exploring the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda and his impact on Modern Society.
Aishveryaa Nidhi, a veteran actress, a well known theatre personality and artistic director of Abhinay School of Performing Arts is directing two plays in the festival.
Aishveryaa is well known in the field of ‘Art and theatre’ for her outstanding contribution in the field of arts while promoting the community and encouraging community participation.
All the actors of the Abhinay School are enthusiastic to perform in the festival. Abhinay actors which are participating in this festival include Santosh Verma , Ravi Chanana, Ashish Kumar, Sanket Das , Shourya Nidhi , Tania Starr and Aishveryaa Nidhi.
One of the play directed by Aishveryaa Nidhi, is “ Mahila” which will be performed on June 6 and June 7. The play is a story of a struggling actor and the uncertainty of life. When past teachings are brought in present, what he thought how wanted in the past , is completely different to what the future now reveals. Beautifully written by Donatella Parise , Aishveryaa Nidhi directs Aaron Scully and her new find Tania Starr.
“Guru Keith’ which will be performed on June 8 . This play is based on the characters Helen and Keith , who have chosen different paths after the death of their daughter in order to deal with the grief, now their marriage is tearing apart at the seams. The play shows as how different people chose different paths to deal with their grief.
Script is written by Pheona Mulligan and Aishveryaa Nidhi directs Jaymie Knight and Lynda Leavers. Lynda Leavers is the recipient of the best Actress of Short+ Sweet 2014.
While the play ‘Skeptic in turned believer’, where Sho is playing the role of young Naren is based on the story of a questing teenager. Sho is playing the role of young Naren.
Santosh Verma is playing the role of Naren’s mother and Sanket Das is playing the role of Swami Vivekananda in one of the plays .
Written and directed by Sankarn , this play is a story of a questing teenager, as a wandering monk is depending wholly on God. Starving and dying of thirst , he is ridiculed by a fellow train passenger , a rich trader , who refuses to help him . However, God has not forgotten his devotees.
Abhinay’s actor Ashish Kumar is playing the lead role in “ The Early Days of Vivekananda’. The play is written by An American writer Martha Patterson and is directed by Sankar Chandrasekaran.
The play is featuring Belinda Elchaar as Sucheta and Asish Kumar as Narendra.
The story is about Narendra who is lost and alone. Meeting the future Swami on the steps of a temple, his friend Sucheta does not really understand his goal.
The festival Coordinator Robert Grant said, “The plays present tales of the inspired and the troubled, the pious and the mysterious, the mystical and the humorous, the young and the old, from the Australian suburbs to the temples and train stations of India”
Alex Broun said that Vivekananda’s influence is huge to the world’s 2.4 billion of Hindus (the fastest growing faith in Australia according to the latest census with 275,000 identifying currently here) and a subtle influence behind the burgeoning worldwide interest in Yoga, meditation and the interfaith movement. The participants in the festival are a wonderful multi-faith mix of Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Christian writers, directors and actors.
The Vedanta ten-minute play festival , therefore will provide an opportunity to know more about the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda and his impact on modern society.
For Bookings: King Street Theatre or online: http://www.trybooking.com/eefm$25/$15 concession
