Raja

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Raja (রাজা in the original Bengali script) is a play by Rabinadrath Tagore (1861–1941)[1].

The original text

Written in 1910, it is a symbolic play, an allegorical work about an individual’s spiritual and personal awakening in their quest for beauty and truth, loosely borrowed from the Buddhist story of King Kush from Mahāvastu.

Translations and adaptations

The Bengali play became known internationally when it was translated into English as The King of the Dark Chamber by Tagore himself, and published by MacMillan and Co. in 1914.

Another short stage version of Raja was published under the title of Arupratan in 1920.

Performance history in South Africa

1961: Performed in South Africa in an English production of The King of the Dark Chamber by the Indian born, New York based, director Krisha Shah, which Shah had staged in New York and then brought to Durban, South Africa.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_(play)

Facsimile version of the 1914 English text, Hathi Trust Digital Library[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6521/6521-h/6521-h.htmGo to ESAT Bibliography


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