"The Buddha: In His Own Words" The life of the Buddha from the original texts

Finding the way to Nirvana on stage

BY R.J. DONOVAN
BostonNOW Theater Editor

Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism, was born in India 500 years before Christ. He began life as a priveleged prince, but in his late 20s gave up his royal existence in the pursuit of enlightenment and spiritual awakening.

Now, his life and teachings are the subject of the one-man show, The Buddha - In His Own Words, written and performed by Evan Brenner.

The idea came to Brenner after he saw Alec McGowen perform his one-man show, St. Mark's Gospel. "I was immersed in the Sutras (canonical texts held to convey the words of the Buddha)," he said. "They are very dramatic and I was reading on of them to my girlfriend at the time. She sort of 'oohed' and 'ahhed' at the right points and I thought - why not do the story of the Buddha."

Far from a religious lecture, the play has drawn traditional theatergoers interested in the artistic dramatization of the prophet's life. "I consider the story to be a celebration of an imperfect man with a perfect theory," he said.

Since the Buddha shared his philosophies and teachings orally, the evening emphasizes the message over the elaborate staging. "Theater at its core and at its best, is a live spontaneous experience," Brenner said.

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To receive notifications of future shows email TheBuddhaPlay@gmail.com

The performance is 80 minutes with a brief intermission

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