Vinayak Savarkar, the chilling mentor to Gandhi’s assassin Godse, is played brilliantly by Rye’s own Sagar Arya in The Father and The Assassin at The National Theatre until June 18.
The Father and the Assassin reveals little known circumstances around the assassination of one of the greatest Indians who ever lived, Mahatma Gandhi. Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous period in the history of India and the British Empire this play is a gripping allegorical ‘why-dunnit’ challenging British historical records surrounding the death of India’s Father of the Nation.
Jawaharial Nehru, India’s first prime minister, banned information around Gandhi’s assassination for fear the assassin’s words would diminish Gandhi’s nuanced message of Ahisma (non-violence – a key virtue in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism).
The playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar took five years to research and develop little known aspects in the background of the independence movement. She traces the political journeys of both Gandhi, his impressionable young assassin, Godse, and the stern unbending radical Hindu activist ideologue, Vinayak Savarka, played by Sagar Arya, who influences Godse to kill Gandhi. Sagar’s character, Savarka, wrote the first treatise on Hindu nationalism in stark contrast to the secular Hinduism and non-violence that Gandhi had been advocating.
This document remains the cornerstone of Indian right wing nationalist politics today. The current political climate is not in any way the focus of this work but the characters brilliantly convey what radicalism looks and feels like. One can’t help thinking about references to Nazism, Northern Ireland, Brexit and the political trends happening across India right now.
All the press reviews have been positive and insightful; highlighting brilliant choreography, ingenious staging, outstanding casting with strong performances from all the characters. Audiences of packed houses are giving standing ovations for all performances including matinees.
Sagar’s acting career in the UK began with his debut in 2003 playing Antonio in ‘Twelfth Night’ with Raza Jaffery as Orsino, whom Sagar was understudying. He appeared as Claudio in an Indianised ‘Much Ado’ in 2012 debuting at the RSC and transferring to the West End months later. In 2018 he was directed by Sir Michael Boyd in Marlowe’s ‘Tamburlaine’, which many Rye News readers travelled up to Stratford upon Avon to experience.
I felt so very proud of Sagar watching his impressive performance in the Olivier Theatre this week. He is a devoted father of four young children and husband of Anwesha, the author and cineaste who organises most enjoyable ‘Movie Mondays’ showing classic international films with aromatic spicy ‘chai’ and home made samosas in the Silver Room at the Kino.
Image Credits: Susan Benn .