Indian-Inspired Play Performed in Front of Tokyo Station; Outdoor Spectacle Part of Ongoing Tokyo Festival 2023

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, October 21, 2023

In broad daylight, visitors from a totally different world suddenly appeared in an office district of Tokyo on Thursday.

They were performers in an outdoor theatrical work, “Mahabharata — Nalacharitam,” supported by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The work, a program in the Tokyo Festival 2023, was performed on the Gyoko Street Special Stage, set up with JR Tokyo Station as its backdrop, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

The play was produced by Satoshi Miyagi, 64, general artistic director of the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center and general director of the Tokyo Festival. This year’s Tokyo Festival events began in September in the capital.

Miyagi is also the writer of “Mahabharata — Nalacharitam.” He created the play by transposing the tale of King Nala, a romance in the great Indian epic Mahabharata, to Japan’s Heian period (794 to the late 12th century). Since the stage play was first performed in 2003, it has been highly praised at home and abroad.

“Mahabharata — Nalacharitam” will be performed through Monday from noon every day.