Parva is a take on the Mahabharata that is startling in its intellectual and emotional clarity. It is about the human effort, in thought and action, we make to resolve the conflicts that emerge from our obligation to the world we inhabit, to ourselves and others, without any divine intervention. It is epic, without the miracles.
The form of the live performance is sacred. It requires the players to bring their stories to the audience, in shared time and shared space. The players perform an emotion, the audiences feel it. No AI can replace that engagement. Theatre will always rise up, from time to time, surviving as it always has, for thousands of years.
The 8-hour Kannada stage adaptation produced by Rangayana, Mysuru, saw 43 packed shows at which nobody left the halls until after 10-15 minutes of standing ovations at the end of the shows. Also, to remember, "normal" Indian theatre has always been all-night long; as in Yakshagana, Tala Maddale, Doddata, Krishna Parijata and other forms, in Karnataka too.