Andha Yug

Andha Yug
Written by	Dharamvir Bharati
Characters	Kauravas Pandavas Krishna Ashwatthama
Date premiered	1962, written 1954
Place premiered	Mumbai by Theatre Unit, theatre group
Original language	Hindi
Subject	anti-war
Genre	historical play
Setting	Last day of the Mahabharat war

Andha Yug (Hindi: अंधा युग, The Age of Blindness or The Blind Age) is a 1954 verse play written in Hindi, by renowned novelist, poet, and playwright Dharamvir Bharati (1926-1997). It was the first important play of 20th century India. Set in the last day of the Great Mahabharat war, the five-act tragedy was written in the years following the 1947 partition of India atrocities, as allegory to its destruction of human lives and ethical values. It is a metaphoric meditation on the politics of violence and aggressive selfhood and that war dehumanized individuals and society. Thus both the victor and the vanquished lose eventually.

The anti-war play first created sensation as a radio play at Allahabad All India Radio. This led to its production by Mumbai-based theatre director, Satyadev Dubey (1962), and subsequent famous production by theatre doyen Ebrahim Alkazi against the backdrop of historical monuments in Delhi (like Feroz Shah Kotla and Purana Qila). It became "a national theatrical event"; his 1963 production was seen by then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was subsequently staged by numerous directors and in many Indian languages.

As part of the "theatre of the roots" movement which started in Indian theatre in the 1950s, which tried to look into Indian epics and myths for form, inspiration and content,Andha Yug is today recognised as the "play that heralded a new era in Indian theatre" and standard repertoire of Hindi theatre. Dharamvir Bharati wrote one play during his career and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Playwriting (Hindi) in 1988, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.

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