Pushing past the Bard to a storied storyteller of another era altogether, Austin Shakespeare presents an original production drawn from the Mahābhārata, the epic poem drafted by Vyasa more than two millennia ago. Adapted by Austin Shakespeare Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella, this new staging dramatizes the war of succession depicted in the original Sanskrit text with dance and fight choreography and original music by Nagavalli along with improvised live music by Venkata Surampudi. Condensing the original work – about 1.8 million words in total – down to an evening’s entertainment? That’s an epic achievement in and of itself. – Kimberley Jones
Through Feb. 23