EPISODE · Jul 8, 2025 · 24 MIN
This play is an adaptation of the longest poem ever written
from Q with Tom Power
The longest poem ever written is a 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic called the “Mahabharata,” which clocks in at roughly 1.8 million words. But the poem’s daunting length didn’t stop Toronto’s Why Not Theatre from adapting it into a large-scale play of the same name. A few months ago, Miriam Fernandes, the co-creator and star of the show, joined Tom Power to tell us exactly what it took to bring this ancient Sanskrit epic to the stage, and why the story still feels urgent and deeply relevant today.
What this episode covers
The longest poem ever written is a 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic called the “Mahabharata,” which clocks in at roughly 1.8 million words. But the poem’s daunting length didn’t stop Toronto’s Why Not Theatre from adapting it into a large-scale play of the same name. A few months ago, Miriam Fernandes, the co-creator and star of the show, joined Tom Power to tell us exactly what it took to bring this ancient Sanskrit epic to the stage, and why the story still feels urgent and deeply relevant today.
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This play is an adaptation of the longest poem ever written
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