Bhujarti (play)



A late play by Harry Hardiner, Bhujarti is an experiment in theatre of cruelty usually dated sometime between 1996 and 1999. It is as infamous for its curse as it is for its unstageable imagery. From its first production in 2006, nearly six years after the author's disappearance, when Bhujarti was given an off-off-Broadway debut, the show has been haunted by accidental deaths, madness, and murder among castmates.

Plot
The Baron gathers together his closest advisors to discuss the shortage of eggs which plagues the countryside, at the behest of his sorceress Madame Sosostris. The witch tells the gathered lords that Time (generally seen as both the natural phenomenon and a deific personification) will soon end, unless they consent to their universe's utter self-destruction. Despite initial rejection, Madame Sosostris is able to win over the lords one by one; as soon as she's gained their consent, a fairly quick deed, the stage itself is supposed to utter the Great Invitation ("kentro bhujarti kentro eat statues come"), and a flurry of disturbing images parades across the stage, suggesting demoralization, dissolution, decadence, and decay.

The Great Invitation
"KENTRO BHUJARTI KENTRO EAT STATUES COME" — Bhujarti

There has been much speculation as to the meaning of the so-called "Great Invitation". Some suggest it is a transliterated phrase from another language. What language has not yet been verified. Candidates include corrupt Sanskrit, Ancient Chinese, and a variation on Proto-Indo-European.