“A must for all deluded western seekers of beauty, happiness and immortality.” Tamsin Pelham-Smith, Delhi London Poetry Quarterly. Gopi Warrier’s latest play – Dr Athanasius weds Dr Diora – starting on 7th October 2014 at the beautiful Steiner Theatre near Regent’s Park is a powerful story of the vanity of human beings and their quest for the perfection of their physique and for immortality defying the spiritual laws of manifest nature.
The play is a strong critique of the tragedy of older people in the Western world who are left sick and uncared for in the hands of often cruel carers, without compassion or awareness of their own adharmic actions, in itself a product of a demographically and economically unbalanced world.
Dr Moses the main character is a principled and noble Jewish medical scientist researching and developing methods by which young blood can be used to prolong the life of the old. He meets Dr Diora Barton an English post-doctoral physicist having to work in the cosmetics industry due to lack of suitable jobs in Britain and is deeply disillusioned with the motivation and techniques used in the all pervasive beauty and therapy industry.
Woven in to the heart of the play is the beautiful Hindu story of Markendeya who though destined to die aged 16 is blessed by Lord Shiva to become immortal and the consequent imbalances that arise between life and death as a consequence.
About Gopi Warrier: Gopi Warrier has lived in London for 34 years. He studied English Literature in India and then came to London Business School and completed an MBA in International Business from here and from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Paris and the New York University Graduate School of Business. He comes from a well known and distinguished family of writers, physicians, diplomats and administrators including Chief Ministers to the erstwhile kings of Kerala. His grand father M. R. Krishna Warrier was a leading poet of Kerala and his father G. P. Warrier the Chairman of the Indian National Railways and Principal Secretary to the Government of India. Warrier has published three volumes of poetry including Varaha The Secret of Evolution and the Lament of JC and the art film produced and co-directed by him based on his poetry was nominated for the best spiritual film award at the Greatlakes film festival in the U.S and also chosen to be exhibited at Canadian, French and Hongkong film festivals. He has staged five plays in London including God Sports, The Tenth Incarnation, Genesis of Karma-Three Faces of Evil, Siddhivinayak Saves Mumbai from Terror Attack. Warrier also started McAlpine, Thorpe and Warrier, the management consultancy firm in London and also founded the Ayurvedic Company of the Great Britain as well as the Delhi London Poetry foundation to encourage young poets to write. Gopi Warrier has also authored several books on Ayurveda, India’s ancient medical system including: – The Complete Illustrated Guide to Ayurveda (with Deepika Gunwant); – Ayurveda, The Right Way to Live; and – The Secrets of Ayurveda (with Dr. Harsh Varma and Karen Sullivan).
Source : Lokesh Shastri