Usha and the Dawns to come

As Aryamani, the director explains:

“The texts for this performance were chosen as an attempt, in a visual form, to bring close to us the immortal knowledge they express. As golden drops of Light, tiny drops from a vast Ocean, this selection from the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Gita, creates a particular atmosphere conducive to an inner opening towards this eternal knowledge. The presence of Sanskrit language in various moments was essential for the creation of this atmosphere.

Usha, the opening lines of Sri Aurobindo’s The Life Divine, was our first source of inspiration. From there, an invocation of Dawn, with a few quotes from the Vedas, leads us to the joy of the manifestation, the Divine Presence everywhere, through the verses and two stories from the Upanishads. Lines from Savitri permeate the whole, helping us to receive Krishna. The sounds of His flute prepare us to listen to some of His teachings to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The performance concludes with the last lines of Savitri. They affirm our best hopes and aspirations, and unite the past dawns and noons of the future.”

‘Usha and the Dawns to Come’ was a one year project that started in August 2021 and concluded with the three performances this August. “It is the result of a combined effort by a small group of people in their sincere aspiration to make an offering to Sri Aurobindo.” This group has been meeting once a week for the first six months of preparatory work to explore and hone all the skills and stage presence required for the final performances. This preliminary training included regular voice lessons, singing, Sanskrit lessons, yoga, yoga nidra, Awareness through the Body, martial arts, and other forms of physical education.

For the second part of the year-long preparation, the group started meeting more than once a week, to start exploring the shape that the play would take.

All this hard work and dedication is what truly held the performance together, and it visibly emanated through the actors’ strong poise, polished gestures, posture, and clarity of voice projection.

The play was woven together with lines from Savitri, recited by two storytellers who filled the entire stage with their presence as they stepped in and out to narrate, using grand slow gestures that, combined with the verses, inspired a sense of timelessness.

One of the highlights of the performance was the classical scene from the Kurukshetra where Krishna converses with a remorseful Arjuna. That single short scene, ending with Arjuna’s realisation, conveyed the essence of the Gita in a touching and inspiring way.

The whole design of the play very successfully came together with each detail clearly thought through meticulously. The costumes, mostly consisting of elegant, flowing light gold and blue satins worked in harmonious symbiosis with the lighting which was made to represent the bluish night followed by the golden hues of dawn. The live music complemented the whole, with a wide variety of sound effects, ambient sounds, and Indian instruments. In spite of the challenging windy conditions of the venue, the music and the actors’ speeches were extremely well delivered.

The performance was an uplifting and transporting event, encouraging the audience to turn their gaze inward and reflect on what touches and inspires us most deeply.