Writer: Mayuri Bhandari
Directors: Shyamala Moorty & D’Lo
In The Anti “Yogi”, South Asian American actor, dancer, and storyteller Mayuri Bhandari takes a theatrical sledgehammer to what she describes as the cultural appropriation of a spiritual practice rooted in ancient Indian philosophy by the multi-billion-dollar global Yoga industry. The “Yoga industrial complex”, personified by “Wogis” or white yogis, has, she claims, “appropriated, commodified and sold back to me” selective elements of her own cultural heritage.
The writer’s point is that making you feel good should be merely a side effect of genuine Yoga, a practice that ought to be more about finding self-knowledge and achieving social justice than getting a beach body or selling expensive designer leggings. “Liberation! Not Lululemon!” she tells us, demanding we “reclaim yoga for the people” and find common cause with globally oppressed peoples. A pastiche podcast brings together an Indian guru and the worst of the Wogis to hash out the issues.
Of course, one person’s cultural appropriation is another person’s cultural appreciation, and some may conclude the world is probably big enough for more than one type of Yoga. Whether the binary contrast between Indian “eco” yoga and Western “ego” yoga is quite as clear-cut as Bhandari proposes is questionable at best.
Still, the mash-up of Bollywood dance, monologue, stand-up, video, and polemic looks great. Bhandari, a national figure skating champion in addition to her other demonstrable talents, dances with enormous agility, particularly in one section where she takes the form of the avenging Hindu warrior god Kali. The Buddha makes an appearance, as does Krishna, the Hindu deity who embodies divine love, playfulness, and protection. The piece also sounds fantastic, courtesy of superb live percussion from composer Neel Agrawal, and a brilliantly choreographed take on Doja Cat’s Paint The Town Red.
Aside from the impressive physical theatre, what attracts most about the 60-minute piece is not the politics, but Bhandari’s exploration of her cultural heritage and the challenges of growing up South Asian in California. She takes us from childhood watching Bollywood movies and TV game shows, to a university course in Yoga led by a white teacher from the American South, and populated by fellow students more interested in finding the right posture than in understanding the underlying philosophy. “Who am I beyond my skin, my culture and my heritage?” she asks herself, fielding constant calls from a father who wants her to make an arranged marriage. The question also dominates much recent work by British South Asian writers.
Runs until 16 May 2026
