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 Memory, myth, and the timeless Sita within- Anita Vallabhe-mail: anitavallabhofficial@gmail.com Photos: Aswin S November 11, 2025 (The review first appeared on Global Indian Artist dated Nov 9, 2025) Presented at the MAHAL Dance and Dialogue Festival, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai, on October 31, 2025.  Written and directed by Ratnam, and delivered in a voice that is warm, authentic, and assured, the performance finds her at ease as cultural commentator and keen observer, weaving personal childhood memories into the narrative with relatable candor.  Through Sita, Mandodari, Surpanakha, Manthara, and Ahalya, Ratnam exposes the ironies surrounding women in myth - revered, feared, judged, misremembered. With humor and quiet provocation, she reframes the narrative as one of personal justice: Surpanakha punished for honesty and desire, Manthara for being the spark that set the Rāma story in motion, yet forever reduced to the trope of the conniving hunchback. The production blends classical movement, theatre, and spoken word with elegant restraint. Three suspended fabric panels - gold for Ravaṇa, blue for Rama, peach for Sita - anchor the stage. The lotus returns as motif: Sita's birth, Lakshmaṇa's blade, Bharata's sandals. The Ahalya episode, rendered through unfolding folds of white and gold, becomes a striking visual of entrapment and redemption. Equally compelling are Ratnam's co-performers. Uma Sathyanarayana moves fluidly between song, character, and narration, embodying multiple roles with emotional depth and precision. Multi-percussionist Ashwini Srinivasan shapes the sonic landscape with acute sensitivity, responding to movement and mood alike. Together, the trio performs in remarkable sync - no small feat given the seamless interweaving of live and recorded sound.  The production's visual texture is enriched by its objects. Props devised by Rex and Anita Ratnam form an eclectic, transnational archive - green gloves, a Malaysian headdress, Thai golden nails, South African Xhosa ornaments, and a MoMA book light - each a travelled witness within this ever-evolving work. Lighting design by Victor Paulraj keeps pace with the unfolding narrative, while the costumes and minimalist fabric panels by Sandhya Raman maintain a mood that is simple and elegant. What gives A Million Sitas its force is restraint. Ratnam avoids rhetoric, allowing contradictions to surface on their own - between myth and memory, reverence and erasure, ideal and individual. In retelling Sita's story, she invites each viewer to locate the Sita within - the one who questions, chooses, endures, and ultimately redefines what it means to be a woman, then, now, and in the times to come.  Anita Vallabh, Ph.D., is a dance critic, author, and the Founder & Editorial Curator of Global Indian Artist LLC. She is also the Creative Director of Sarang Arts for Social Justice and serves as Cultural Advisor to the Bhagavatula Charitable Trust. She is based in Boston, Massachusetts. |
