SUDRAKA'S Mitti Ki Gadi (The Little Clay Cart), which dates from 600

AD, exemplifies Sanskrit dramaturgy by holding to the unity of ''Rasa'',

roughly translated as ''flavour, feeling, taste, atmosphere, mood''. It

is easy to comprehend the notion of Rasa in this work by Naya Theatre.

The play has a spirit all of its own, robust and energetic, a romance

with a wickedly satirical edge. This mood is exacerbated by various

devices; the smell of incense, the gaudy colours of the wonderful

costumes, the racous bursts of music, the sly humour of the acting. But

this ''mood'' soon loses its edge.

A synopsis gives us the bones of the action; the love story between

Charudatta, a once bounteous Brahmin, now on his uppers and Vasantasena,

a benevolent and rich courtesan.

While the essence of the play communicates itself well it is not

enough to hold your attention for the two hours plus that this

production demands. Without the aid of dialogue it founders somewhat on

a sea of good intentions. While the general gist could be followed,

scenes seemed to stretch interminably, labouring points endlessly;

perhaps more musical interjections would have helped?

Tanvir's appearances as the villain often seemed to save the story but

in general the standard of acting seemed well below par, not helped by

the haphazard pace, which veered between near hysteria and absolute

lethargy.

An interesting evening but ultimately a disappointing one; it would be

wrong -- and is usually unnecessary -- to demand subtitles of every

non-English play but it seems seriously misguided to present work such

as this which does not easily transfer from one continent to another.