Akash Mohimen’s Reading List
“It’s always a difficult task to recommend plays, to read and to watch. There is a heavy personal baggage we carry into our affair with any text. One man’s masterpiece might be another’s blasphemy.
So after a fair bit of thought, I decided to make my list, relevant to our modern day society, an increasingly polarized society, brimming with violence and hatred, and always a spark away war. Dramas which were written in another era, but are as relevant to 2017, as ever before.
In an effort to be diverse, I have attempted to select texts from 3 different continents with stories set in 3 very different time periods and 3 different languages. ”
Andha Yug by Dharamvir Bharati: 
Any play built around the Mahabharata will always be interesting. But then address the arguments about the politics of war, vengeance and destruction, and one could easily place the story in any decade of the 20th century, and more so in 2017. Add to it the madness of the people with the weapons at their disposal and the violence committed in the name of the greater good. The original Hindi text, written in the form of verse was initially a Radio Play. The five-act play begins on the 18th day at Kurkshetra and culminates in (Spoiler Alert) death of Kirshna.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller:
From the mind of one of the grand daddy’s of modern playwriting, The Crucible was Miller’s middle finger to the prevalent, McCarthyism in America in the 1950s. It had the entire package: an allegory, an historical event, a political statement and emotionally engaging characters. It is a dramatized story of Salem witch trials, which took place in Massachusetts in 1692 and is primarily built around the conflicts of John Proctor. Over 60 years since it was first performed, the play is as relevant in today’s world of half-truths, malicious mud slinging and blind faith, which lead to destruction of lives and society.
Remembrance Day by Aleksey Scherbak (Translated by Rory Mullarkey):
A story set in modern day Latvia, is an outstanding look into how interpretation of history shapes our society. Latvians, who fought for the Third Reich halted the Red Army, are hailed as heroes and parade through the streets of Riga every year. But when young Anya, a political activist, protests this practice, a political turmoil ensues, and questions what it truly means to be patriotic. Remembrance Day has a strong emotional core, and plays out as a thriller with the socio-political environment a ticking time bomb, about to destroy the families and friendships.
Thespo Ink 