
THEATER ARTIST
LEAH SIRKIN
WRITER / Director / Performer

MIRABAI
The Barefoot Princess

Mirabai, The Barefoot Princess is a full length musical based on the story of Mirabai, a 16th century ecstatic mystic poet/saint/songstress. Mirabai was born into a royal Rajput family and rebelled against conventional marriage and the greed and decadence of feudal society. Believing the playful, flute-playing god Krishna to be her true husband, she left the royal household she was forced to marry into, preferring to walk the streets with seekers and saddhus.
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Mirabai is a popular figure in India, often seen as a champion of women and the oppressed. Countless dramatizations of her story have filled the stage and screen, often in the form of traditional dance drama. Hundreds of poems and songs have been attributed to her. Her songs are filled with passion, expressing tormented yearning or ecstatic fulfillment in relation to her elusive lover, Krishna, or anger and frustration with her in-laws and social conventions.
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Mirabai, the Barefoot Princess brings a modern sensibility and relevance of the Mirabai story to a global audience, featuring a variety of musical styles from Indian folk and classical, to bhangra, hiphop and the blues. I am incorporating beautiful translations of Mirabai’s poetry by Andrew Schelling & Robert Bly, as well as some from Rumi, by Coleman Barks.
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The play touches on themes of resistance, inequality, sexual harassment, oppression of women, unrequited love, universal love and spiritual transcendence. While confronting timely and timeless issues, this work will transport, move, entertain and enchant audiences, with a touch of whimsy, soul-stirring music and riveting dance.
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Click below to listen to sample recordings from Mirabai, The Barefoot Princess:
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For this epic work, I am collaborating with diverse artists from the Bay Area and beyond. Stay tuned for more info about this exciting project!
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All songs by Leah Sirkin © 2017, ©2018 ©2019
with Arrangement and Production by Tano Brock
except Music for Don't You See by Tano Brock © 2019
and Bhajan: Gaayatri Kaundinya; composer/producer
©2019
May not reproduce or copy in any form without permission
from the artists