Chitra: A Play in One Act

About

Tagore's one-act verse drama (1914) retells the story of Chitrangada from the Mahabharata: a princess raised as a warrior who falls in love with Arjuna and, believing herself too warrior-like to attract him, asks the gods to give her one year of beauty. She wins him only to find he loves the beauty they gave her, not herself — and must confess her true identity. The play is a meditation on authenticity, beauty, and gender identity of surprising modernity, translated into English by Tagore himself and performed internationally as a poetic dance-drama.