The Sitayana (Or “How to Make an Exit”)

Play (2023)
by Lavina Jadhwani
Directed by Tushar Mathew
Chuang Stage
Boston Center for the Arts
South End, Boston
October 14 – October 31, 2026

With Riya Ramaswamy (Sita 16); Audrey Seraphin (Sita 18); Vidisha Agarwalla (Sita 20); Ann Varghese (Sita 32); Vijaya Sundaram (Sita 46); Om Hegde (Live Tabla Musician)

The classic tale of The Ramayana, one of the two major classics of traditional Indian literature (the other is The Mahabharata), features, among other things, the love story between Rama and Sita. Early on, Rama, prince of Avodhya, wins the hand of Sita by breaking the reputedly impossible-to-string bow of Lord Shiva. On the eve of being crowned king, Rama is unexpectedly banished to the forest for fourteen years, as a result of his stepmother’s manipulations to put her son in power. Sita insists on accompanying Rama, along with Rama’s faithful brother Lakshmana. Ravana, a powerful demon king, tricks Rama and Lakshmana into leaving Sita and then abducts her. With the help of the monkey-general Hanuman who helps Rama attack Ravana, Sita is saved and, at the end of the fourteen year exile, Rama, Sita and Lakshmana return home and Rama is crowned king.

But all is not well, alas. At this point, The Sitayana departs from the plot of the traditional epic. In the epic, Rama, under duress from malicious rumors about the purity of the pregnant Sita, exiles her, and she subsequently gives birth to twin sons, Lava and Kusa, who eventually, near the end of the epic, return home to reunite with their father. In The Sitayana, however, there is a distinctive turn, and Sita leaves Rama to go off on her own and live a liberated life.

Clearly, this brief (sixty-five minute) stage adaptation, featuring five women actors who take turns playing Sita and narrating the tale, can only touch the surface of the Indian mega-epic that features so many narrative twists and turns. But the message is clear and well-taken – that Sita has a life of her own to live and to be proud of, and is not merely to be viewed as a victim of Rama’s destiny as king of Avodhya. The script briefly but lyrically paints the story from the woman’s point of view and clarifies the underlying sexism of the traditional narrative.

This production creates a simple, though persuasive, account of The Ramayana from a woman’s perspective through the heartfelt and lyrical movements, gestures and speeches of its five actors. Effectively renaming the epic with the name of its lead female character, it makes its point simply and directly: the hero does not have to be the guy! The subtitle How to make an exit! pretty much says it all – there’s no way that Sita has to be subjected to banishment, but can simply take off on her own and live her life freely, no longer in need of being perceived as victimized but as free and autonomous.

All of the actors play Sita at different stages of her life and pass the central baton throughout. Each of them gives a passionate rendering of the tale, and, given the brevity and compactness of the production, do a quite good job of rendering a sense of the scope of the story.

Om Hegde sits next to the small stage and plays the tabla (Indian drums) with clarity and adeptness, providing an effective musical and dramatic support for the goings-on onstage.

– BADMan (aka Charles Munitz)