Beyond good & evil: Theatre Nisha’s Dashaanan reimagines the Ramayana in Ravan’s perspective

The one-actor play lasting over 75-minutes revolves around the story of Ravana, as told by Ravana himself and features acclaimed actor TM Karthik playing the protagonist.
TM Karthik
TM Karthik

Dussehra, the festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil is around the corner. If spotting colourful Ravana head effigies on the streets have ever got you wondering what makes the evil (Ravana, in this case) do evil  things in the stories that we hear, city-based theatre group, Theatre Nisha’s adaptation of (Delhi-based theatre artiste) Arun Kukreja’s one-act play Dashaanan might help with a little more perspective.

The one-actor play lasting over 75-minutes revolves around the story of Ravana, as told by Ravana himself and features acclaimed actor TM Karthik playing the protagonist. “The play is a soliloquy of Ravan. It is after his first battle with Rama when he is defeated and just before the second battle when he is the only warrior left on his side.  At this point, he knows that he is marching to his final battle and he reminiscing all the events that has lead him to this,” says V Balakrishnan, the director of the play.

The play raises a lot of questions- Why is God coming down to fight a mortal? If  God has to fight a mortal, doesn’t that in a way, make the mortal the winner? Why should God come in to the world of humans and try to show himself to be the better one?  However, according to Balakrishnan, the play doesn’t question Ramayana. “The play clearly follows the dialects of Ramayana. Where it takes a gentle tangent is, in this story, Ravan instead of Rama is the protagonist. Ramayana doesn’t allow scope for Ravana’s perspective at all,” he adds.

The play also talks about war, the brutality during wars, the reasons because of which people go to war and how it loses its significance as the battle progresses. “In the act, Ravan is not at any point trying to glorify himself. There is a lot of repentance as well as introspection. He admits that it was wrong to kidnap Sita while stating his reasons to do so. As part of the play, Ravana also draws a comparison between him and Rama,” shares Balakrishnan who has put up over a 100 productions for Theatre Nisha.

The play is supported by live music throughout and features veena, various percussion instruments, among others. Talking about the set design for the play, Balakrishnan says, “Invariably, our plays are done on an empty stage, which kind of is our philosophy- letting the actors reign supreme. But in this play, I’m putting up a set because it is reflecting a lot of different emotive portions of Ravana. I have tried to create a semblance and ambiance of a palace, to show a lonely man who lives in a vast palace.”

The costume used in the play is suggestive and won’t represent any mythological aspect of the character. “It has a lot of black and green in order to show fertility as well as darkness,” he adds while adding that the actor won’t be using any properties because the entire play is an introspection.

Having over seven shows lined up in Chennai, the play will be taken to Bengaluru in December.

Tickets: `200 onwards

3pm and 7pm

Sept 27- 30

Alliance Francaise of Madras

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