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The Anti "Yogi"

 
Laura Tucker Review by Laura Tucker 4 Published: 7 Aug 2025 Greenside @ George Street Show Dates: 1 Aug 2025-23 Aug 2025

In The Anti “Yogi”, Mayuri Bhandari takes a graceful but firm swing at the yoga-industrial complex – and lands it.

A practice of compassion and non-violence towards all beings. Exactly what we need most

This solo theatrical show weaves together dance, drama, multimedia and a transcendent live percussion score from Neel Agrawal to unpack the contradictions of Westernised yoga culture through the lens of Bhandari’s Indian-American Jainist identity.

With lithe physicality, Bhandari plays a younger version of herself – dancer and yoga practitioner – navigating the spiritual emptiness that often fills Western yoga spaces: all figure-hugging aesthetic, no awareness.

Effortlessly transitioning through yoga poses and varied character work, Bhandari dramatises the absurdity of practising yoga with classmates who treat it as little more than a way to burn off their kale smoothies.

In reflective moments, she calls on the wisdom of Hindu deities, instigating a conversation between Buddha and an LA-accented Krishna to explore what happens when a spiritual practice rooted in compassion, discipline and devotion becomes a commodified lifestyle.

In her fiercely choreographed portrayal of the goddess Kali – a figure of both destruction and renewal – she strikes a powerful symbol of cultural reclamation, set to Doja Cat’s provocative Paint the Town Red.

Reminding me of a dramatic Hollywood version of Nadia Gilani’s book The Yoga Dissident, Bhandari’s takedown of whitewashed yoga is equally biting in its critique. Though intended to awaken ‘wogis’ (white yogis) to the error of their ways, the show isn’t patronising; it’s immersive and emotionally alive, drawing us into the struggle to decolonise and re-centre a practice that’s been stripped of its soul.

If at times the show over-explains, its impassioned, richly layered story asks no forgiveness. Instead, Bhandari is resolute in her message: yoga is not a £100 pair of leggings set to a playlist of lo-fi mantras in a sage-filled studio. It is a spiritual discipline. A radical act of mindfulness. A practice of compassion and non-violence towards all beings. Exactly what we need most.

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The Blurb:

Are you worthy of the Goddess’s blessings? Or her wrath? Join Mayuri Bhandari and Kali, the Goddess of Death every day as they navigate the absurdities of Western Yoga culture. Liberation, not Lululemon! This award-winning Hollywood Fringe show blends dance, drama, comedy, poetry and live percussion by renowned musician Neel Agrawal. Mayuri gives voice to the true ethos of yoga, weaving together cultural appropriation, decolonisation and community. Come peel back the yoga mat and join the revolution! PS: You don’t need to know anything about yoga to see this show!