“Osiris” combines myth and art

Long before they produced a certain well-received play about being homeless, Pangea World Theater fascinated audiences with the playwriting of co-founder/literary director Meena Natarajan. Specifically, “The Inner World,” her air-tight adaptation of 2,000-year old poetry from India was a fluid tour de force: She utilized an expansive yet structured style passionately rendered with sure-handed, in fact, expert discipline. It is hardly surprising that her track record is, to say the least, enviable. Natarajan is an internationally produced author (Partitions, Conference of the Birds) twice awarded the Minnesota State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant. She has received a Theater Communications Group grant as well as a Playwrights Center Cultural Collaboration grant. Over the past three years, she served as president of Women Playwrights International and, last year, convened the Seventh Women Playwrights International Conference, which took place in the Philippines. For good measure, she serves on the Transitional Council of the American Festival Project. She also is no stranger to activism; she created (and performed) mainstage and street theatre in India to confront social injustice, corruption and dowry deaths as well as co-authoring “Silent Children,” which took on the issue of child labor.

In conjunction with The Playwrights Center, Pangea again graces the Twin Cities theater stage with the work of Meena Natarajan, producing the premiere of “Osiris.” Based on the historic “Book of the Dead,” it’s an adaptation of ancient Egyptian religion. In the play Osiris, god of the underworld and judge of the dead, was restored from death by his sister and wife, Queen Isis, the goddess of nature, who undertook a courageous journey to find the murdered Osiris’ body and avenge his death. Old World religions, categorically—whether Indian, Greek, African or Norse—regarded as myth, have long excited the imagination. That alone peeks interest in the concept and, in Natarajan’s hands, should turn out to be a profoundly intriguing experience. She reflects, “[Book of the Dead] actually means ‘Coming Forth By Day.’ The book really tells you how to live. I spent an entire year reading different versions from different points of view, academics, commentaries. In order to uncover a dramatic core I had to figure out a way that moves the story forward [through the character of] the storyteller, who is a scribe. In theater you have to tell a story ultimately.” Of all the subjects to choose from, Natarajan chose this one because “I grew up with my father telling me stories of mythology. I love mythology, what it has to say and how it’s relevant in our lives. We live a world today that’s so literal. I’ve actually been wanting to do this for a very long time.”

Even the best playwright needs a strong director. Dipankar Mukherjee, who co-founded Pangea, is artistic director and married to Meena Natarajan, got the nod. Lest you figure he was an automatic shoo-in, think again. Others were under consideration over an extended period of time. In the long run, it boiled down to Mukherjee’s approach. “What I like,” Natarajan attests, “is his visual sense. You can play it straight or play it visual. This calls for visual. In the hands of a director who’s not used to that, it might become boring. I hope the playwriting stands for itself, but I like what his visual directing brings to it. The words are one thing. He layers and layers [and] reflects the way we think, the way we live.”

Like Natarajan, Mukherjee is no slouch by any stretch of the imagination. In addition to staging The Inner World and the lion’s share of acclaimed shows at Pangea World Theater, he worked with celebrated playwright Athol Fugard to interpret Playland at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta and was resident director at the Guthrie Theater.

“The present election year is my context for this play,” says Mukherjee. “Truth and its distortions cloaked by justification and reason provoke me to get to the core of [this script]. The playwright’s narrative provokes an epic way of telling a simple truth. Diverse, international casting brings to light the global impact of specific issues through this world of Egyptian mythology.”

Natarajan muses, “Dealing with mythology is always a muscular process. You have to think in a way that is different, that is larger than life. Maintaining a search towards the emotional truth of the myth, capturing its epic scale and yet making it accessible to contemporary audiences through a simplicity of storytelling has been the challenge.” Discerning minds are inclined to trust that she has capably met this challenge and then some.

The world premiere of Meena Natarajan’s “Osiris” opens March 20, running through April 11. Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. at 2 p.m. The Playwrights Center’s Waring Jones Theatre, 2301 East Franklin Avenue, Mpls. Post-play discussions follow Friday and Saturday performances. $15 (preview $8). Advance Tickets: $13. Students/Seniors, groups of 10 or more: $10. Box Office: 612-203-1088