LOVE Beyond Measure: The Legend Of Sohni And Mahiwal, one of the world’s most enduring love stories, begins its Yorkshire tour tonight at the National Centre for Early Music, York.
This new stage and digital project has been inspired by the paintings of Indian artist Arpana Caur and brings together words, poetry, music and dance from different traditions.
Love Beyond Measure tell the story of the midnight trysts between the lovers Sohni and Mahiwal on the banks of the river Chenab in the Punjab. This epic tale has been celebrated in Indian painting, literature, music, dance and film for hundreds of years, and in this new staging, images of Caur’s paintings will be interwoven with readings of poems and newly commissioned music and dance.
The performance combines words and poetry by Nima Poovaya-Smith with live music composed and performed by David Wilson, on saxophone and flute, and Inder ‘Goldfinger’ Matharu on percussion, such as the tabla. Dancers Rashmi Sudhir and David Hamilton will play Sohni and Mahiwal respectively.
The project has been conceived and run by Alchemy, whose director, Nima Poovaya-Smith, says: “The source of inspiration was as much Arpana Caur’s magnificent body of paintings on the subject, as the story of Sohni and Mahiwal themselves.
“Every culture has its great love stories, but in the love stories of the Punjab, it is the manner in which selfless romantic love transcends into spiritual love that makes them so remarkable.
“The potter Sohni, swimming across the river Chenab to keep her midnight trysts with her lover Mahiwal until she plunges to her death on one stormy evening, followed by a grief-stricken Mahiwal, has captured the imagination of artists across the centuries – from painters in the Indian miniature tradition, to Sufi poets, to Bollywood, to Arpana Caur herself.”
A new website, lovebeyondmeasure.co.uk, is being created by the University of Bradford’s Digital Working Academy and will go live on April 11. It will feature a number of Arpana Caur-inspired images; Jack Lockhart’s film animation of the legend; short videos of the dance and music drama; nine vignettes of iconic love stories from around the world, such as Romeo and Juliet and Laila and Majnun; and a new love song composed by Christella Litras, who puts melodies to Poovaya-Smith’s new poem for Love Beyond Measure.
Tickets for tonight’s 7.30pm show are on sale on 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk or on the door. Further Yorkshire performances will follow at Halifax Square Chapel on April 23 and 24; Barnsley Civic Theatre, June 5; and Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, June 20.
Charles Hutchinson
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