Veera Rani Abbakka: Queen of the Seas

<strong>Hindi play </strong>

<strong>An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Ank Theatre Group</strong>

Stage 50 - the Dinesh Thakur legacy festival–50 years of Ank Theatre Group

In the 1500s, Portuguese warships swarmed the western coast of India, masking their economic greed under the guise of protection. With rulers from the region of Tulunadu looking away, and her own husband, King Lakshmappa of Mangalore, trading sovereignty for foreign favours, Queen Veera Abbakka of Ullal stands alone. Bound by a deathbed oath to avenge her mother’s humiliation at the hands of the colonisers, she sees the chilling truth: trade today means chains tomorrow.

Choosing her people over politics, Abbakka defies her nobles. She fortifies Ullal, builds a lethal navy and aligns with the Zamorin of Calicut to smuggle spices to Arabian countries, shattering the monopoly of the Portuguese. When the invaders seize her vessel, she answers with fire—storming and crushing the Mangalore Fort.

What follows is an epic war of wits and steel. Facing overwhelming cannon fire, the ‘abhaya rani’ (fearless queen) weaponises subterfuge, leading lethal guerrilla strikes that push the invaders back to Goa. Yet, her greatest threat lies not at sea, but at home, where a resentful husband and whispering traitors plot her downfall.

A century before the British East India Company would enslave the subcontinent, Rani Abbakka divined the colonial blueprint and became a vanguard hero of the Indian resistance. Imbued with the vibrant energy of Yakshagana—the traditional folk theatre of Karnataka that has kept her legend alive for generations—this play weaves oral history and dramatic performance into a thrilling saga of defiance.

<strong>Written, Designed & Directed by Priita Mathur Thakur</strong>
<strong>Dialogue Writing by Richa Sharad</strong>
<strong>Actors: Priita Mathur Thakur, Aman Gupta, Mukul Nag, Vivek Marwaha, Prakash Vaswani, Neeta Mohindra, Jayakara, Ravish Rathi, Supurna Malakar, Titiksha Taggar, Kshitij Kashyap, Rishab Sawhney Kaustubh Sawant, Rohan Mehta, Nirali Kalani, Jawed Rehman, Krushan Doshi, Vikrant Chaturvedi, Rafael Stemplewski, George Darley, Gourrav Kumar, Brijeshwar Singh, Akshay Mandre and Others</strong>
<strong>Set Design: Atul Tiwari</strong>
<strong>Costumes: Mala Dey</strong>
<strong>Soundscape: Aman Gupta</strong>
<strong>Dance Choreography: Tanusree Gupta</strong>
<strong>Light Design : Shivaji Shinde</strong>
<strong>Sound Operation : Saurabh Das</strong>
<strong>Management & Production: Priita Mathur Thakur</strong>

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