Ramayana

By Robert Iles - 17th Apr 2007

It continues to amaze me how little we know about the great Asian stories such as Ramayana - perhaps it is because Disney hasn't "done" them yet. Actually, I can't see why they haven't - gods, demons, a beautiful princess, a dashing hero, danger and talking monkeys - it already has all the elements they need ... but then again, they'd probably miss the point. As did some of the audience I overheard who were disappointed that they'd come to see a "kid's story". Well, no, this isn't a kid's story, anymore than Beowulf, Homer's Odyssey or the Mabinogion are "kid's stories". Not that there is anything wrong with stories for kids .. I love them ... but to see this as a pretty tale is to miss the point. By a mile.

Ramayana is several thousand years old and is a true epic. A tale of love, devotion, loss and "consequences" that follow, and promote, the central rules of Hinuism - most notably the need to lead an honest, respectful, life. From this epic, David Farr has distilled the core story of the love between a prince (Rama) and his bride (the beautiful Sita) who, for reasons of duty, find themselves banished to a forest. Whilst there the ten-headed demon god Ravana (King of Lanka) falls for, and abducts, Sita with the hope that she will eventually give herself to him. Distraught, Rama and his brother Bharata, search the forest and eventually enlist the help of the moneky king, Sugriva and his servant Hanuman. The monkeys eventually find Sita and lead Rama to her rescue - big battle, bad dies, good prevails, happy ending. Well nearly. Because he acted contrary to the rules of Dharma in aiding Sugriva to reclaim his kingship over the monkeys, Rama suffers the curse of jealousy which causes him to doubt Sita's devotion. In this adaptation the matter is resolved, in the original the ending is less up-beat.

So is it a good adaptation? Given the mamoth task of compressing an epic based on rules, gods and demons unfamiliar to the likely audience I would have to say that this is a good version. Perhaps the monkeys are a little too comic at times, perhaps some areas of the epic journey are skated over in exchange for moving the plot along but without a cast of hundreds and a good few hours or performance time I'm not sure what else could have been done.

As to the produciton, I found it full of pace, exciting, easy to follow and just exotic enough for me to glimpse the true heart of the epic beating under the skin. A truly ensemble cast

I was so happy to see an adaptation of Ramayana on stage, perhaps it was a little too westernised, but none the less, the sooner we start being exposed to these glorious tales the better. And I loved it, more please!