For the first time, the SMV Past Production: I Am Ravana will be premiering online on our platform: Inspire.
Presented with an alternate take on the Indian epic Ramayana, I am Ravana engages the audience to consider the shades of good and evil. It is framed by the last moments of Ravana's (The demon king of Lanka) life when Ravana asks humanity, "why do you rejoice in my death?". The quest for meaning, purpose, and fulfilment is timeless and universal. Ravana's hubris is ours today - personally, politically and globally.
Legend tells the story of Rama, King Dasharatha’s oldest son. Rama and his young wife Sita were banished to a life of exile for 14 years in the forest as a result of his father’s promise to his queen Kaikeyi.
SMV’s take on this epic begins at the time of the demon King of Lanka’s death, in that split second of losing his life, encased within the liminality between death and the afterlife, he experiences an existential moment, questions humanity and his sense of Self, and reflects upon his actions. The production is shaped by the insights of several cultural performance mediums; from dance, music, and text, using Valmiki's text as the basis for interpretation.