Savitha Sastry's 'Soul Cages' opened to an electrifying response from the audience at Colombo. This Bharathanatyam presentation left the viewers spell bound by its rich tapestry of choreography, music, lighting, and a story that is novel and thought provoking. 

'Soul Cages' recounted the story of a six year old who is suddenly taken back to heaven.  The King of the other world, who is called the King of Death, takes an instant liking to the child and finds himself playing and prancing with the child in a rare display of tenderness.  However, it follows that the child is unable to accept the permanence of her new home- heaven, as it offers no joys to her in the absence of the loved ones she left behind on earth.

 

 

In an ironic twist, the innocent child learns to bring her loved ones to heaven with a sincere prayer that even the King of Death is unable to thwart.  How the King of Death resolves this situation and returns balance to nature forms an enthralling and touching end to this performance. 

All roles in this performance were portrayed by Savitha and yet the audience had no difficulty in either distinguishing the characters or following the story.  The performance left many of the audience visibly shaken and emotionally stirred.

 

 

In the words of one of the audience members, "I was taken to another dimension and world by Soul Cages"!  Many in the audience expressed that while they had seen several Bharathanatyam shows before, they had never seen or expected anything of this nature when they arrived at the show. Savitha's conviction of spreading the art form of Bharathanatyam by using novel stories and presentations seems to have struck a chord with Sri Lankans, as aptly summed up by a fan at the end of the Soul Cages show, "Sri Lankans will never forget this performance".

Conducted at the Bishops College Auditorium, Soul Cages was conceptualised and directed by Savitha and her husband A. K Srikanth. Soul cages was also invited to be performed in Kandy the following night in a first of its kind encore performance