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Tracing the journey of martial arts

DUBAI — Theatre buffs can look forward to an evening of a dramatic, historical and visual delight on February 10 and 11. The Primetime Theatre Company's 20th production, Zen Katha is the fascinating story of Bodhidharma, a prince from the ancient kingdom of Kanchi in 525 A.D, who was the true founder of Zen and Martial Arts, as we know them today.

The play opens in the opulent kingdom of Kanchi in India, where Bodhidharma was born to King Sugandha, the reigning Pallava King. The first half explorers his relationship with his guru Prajnaratna, who trained him in yoga, kalaripayatt and meditation, and with his playmate Sanghameeta, who is secretly in love with him. It traces his transformation from a Brahmin to a Buddhist monk and finally to the 28th Patriach, who decides to travel to China with the Buddha's bowl to spread Buddhism.

The play then proceeds to detail his dramatic encounter with the powerful Chinese Emperor Wu Ti of the Liang Dynasty and then moves to the austere world of the monks and monasteries in Shaolin, where we finally see the birth of his Zen philosophy and the Martial Arts as they are known today, in popular forms such as Tai Chi and Kung Fu.

Written beautifully by the well-known narrator and playwright Pratap Sharma, the play traces the journey of Bodhidharma, from India to China, both on the physical and the metaphysical plane. As the play unfolds an extraordinary man's tale — his intense temporal relationships and inspiring spiritual and physical evolution, culminating with his discovery of an alternative way of being the audience is sure to be left spell bound.

Zen Katha is a DSF event by Rangmanch Theatre Events. It is being staged at Emirates International School Auditorium.