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Goa villagers mistake Russian theatre for ‘black magic’, stops performance
Sagar Tilve, a local panchayat member, said, they thought that some sort of ‘black magic’ was being performed and so they were stopped and asked if they had permission for the drama
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A theatrical re-enactment of the story of Shanidev (Saturn) and King Vikramaditya in Russian by Russian performing artists was mistaken for ‘black magic’ at Paliem Pernem in North Goa by local panchayat members who allegedly intervened and disrupted the ‘performance’ whilst confronting the ‘performers.’
The performance was allegedly disrupted seeking to see ‘copies of the permissions’ before they began the performance.
Olga Kamiyenska, a Russian performance artist and Nikola Vranic, a Belarusian national and a lead performer in the drama, along with several other artists, were performing the story in Russian in an open space in the village, which they claim they had informed the local panchayat in advance “despite that it was disrupted.”
“We had informed the local panchayat in advance about our performance which was free for all the people who came,” Kamiyenska said.
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“We want to clear up the misunderstanding which arose during our performance in the form of a rumour about ‘black magic’, said Kamiyenska, adding, “We want to make it absolutely clear that we are not ministers of any cult or supporters of any religious outfit. We are just performers.”
Expressing distress over the response from the villagers, Kamiyenska said, “Honestly, we are heartbroken that our effort to honour this ancient Indian story was met with such harshness.”
“We would much rather be educated about our understanding of Indian culture than be vilified. We are just performers who love India, its rich heritage and its wealth of knowledge. We feel that it’s our privilege to deep dive into its stories and use our talents to serve the people,” she added.
Sagar Tilve, a local panchayat member, said, they thought that some sort of ‘black magic’ was being performed and so they were stopped and asked if they had permission for the drama.
“We were of the belief that it was some black magic they were performing– all dressed in black, jumping up and down and dancing to the beats of the drums. We will not allow any black magic in the village. But if they want to do some acting performances, they will have to take permission from the village panchayat,” Tilve said.
To this, Vranic, who also is the director of the play, said, “It was not a commercial venture. We had spoken to the panchayat, they told us it is ‘OK’ because it is not a big performance, and we are not selling tickets. We were just telling the story as a ‘seva’ about your ancient Vedic history. But then at the moment, people came and stopped it.”
Vranic, a graduate of the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, St Petersburg, Russia, has previously performed at the Dhaatu Puppet Theatre in Bengaluru.
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Vranic said that he heard this story years ago in Rishikesh (in Uttarakhand) from a friend and was very impressed.
“I heard this story seven years ago in Rishikesh from my friend and it impressed me so much. It was deep in my heart and I started learning about King Vikramaditya and his brother Bharthari. For six years, I learned about astrology from famous Indians, Europeans and doctors and professors. This year I came from Indonesia especially to Ujjain to discover the Shani temple and the place of Vikramaditya. Now in Goa, my friend asked me to share this story and we had a small spectacle, we invited our friends and we drew a performance like a drama,” Vranic said.
The Goa police, who were informed about the incident, said they had inquired about it and there was no cognisable offence.
“We were informed about the complaints of black magic, but on inquiry, we found that the complaints were not true,” North Goa superintendent of police (SP) Nidhin Valsan said.
