Dramayana

Shirpa’s father in Saaksh episode of ‘ Varyavarchi  Varaat’  says to the judge in court :” Ravan Kidnapped Seeta , so Ram killed Ravan with help of Hanuman. Does this describe Ramayan? “. He then starts describing story of Ramayana right from Ayodhya King Dashrath, ends up with some hilarious anecdotes with modern context on Putrakameshti Yagna (Putra ka Mistake), Seeta harping on Ram to go behind golden deer (you cannot keep any women happy and away from clothes shopping be it Seeta), Manthara, Vibhishan (first person to change political party, Hanuman (to burn houses of third party).  What an amazing acting (PL did it in Varyavarchi Varaat) and writing by P L Deshpande.

 See the Saaksh episode here https://youtu.be/PPraqWW3lRU

And what a coincidence here that after doing Varyavarchi Varaat ( http://nayakgiri.blogspot.com/2019/09/blog-post.html) here in Connecticut, one of the organizers of Desi around Connecticut Diwali event, Durgesh Joshi one day called me to discuss possibility of doing a play based on Ekshloki Ramayan. It’s a Sanskrit Shlok describing Ramayana in single verse.

आदौ रामतपोवनाद- िगमनं : Once Ram went to Forest

हत्वा मृगं काञ्चनं : (there) he chased and killed the Golden Deer

वैदेहीहर- ं जटायुमरणं : Meanwhile Sita (his wife) was abducted (by Ravana) and Jatayu (a bird) was killed

सुग्रीवस- म्भाषणम् : Ram spoke with Sugriva

बालीनिग- रहणं : Killed Bali (unrighteous brother of Sugriva)

समुद्रत- णं लंकापुरी दाहनं: Crossed the ocean and burnt Lanka (Ravan’s city)

पश्चाद्र- वण कुम्भकर्ण हनन: (Ram) Later killed Ravan and (his brother) Kumbhkaran

मेतद्ध- रामायणम्: This is the story of Ramayana

Then I remembered that Saaksh episode from VaryaVarchi Varaat and after discussion we agreed to develop entire story. Another Organizer Upendra Watve suggested we have a Sanskrit play based on Ramayana.  We discussed eternally and finally reached a concept where we start the play from Kaikeyi Varam( Boon granted by Dashrath to Keikeyi in Dev Danav War) and end with Raavan wadh. We would also include Sanskrit in it. Introduce multilingual action by using South Indian songs. Then we should have dance sequences to give it Firodiya kind of feel (Firodiya Trophy is Intercollege competition in Pune of performing arts intertwined with drama).  Then there was a bomb shell: We should do it with Kids. And then we should do final play on 19^th( only 20 days in hand). A final constraint was about having two practice locations: One in Rocky Hill and other South Windsor so we needed two directors.  Facing these daunting challenges, we decided to go ahead with full devotion and faith in Ram Lalla. So we began with Jai Shree Ram slogan. Lets divide my experience which I have named as Dramayana in four stages or kands just as they say in Ramayana.

Scripting Kand

First thing for me to do was writing a script looking into limitations of medium. Also I did not want to give it Ramleela feel despite using similar visual elements like Costumes or Accessories. It was decide not to have any dialogues for kids. So we decided to have dubbing artist saying the dialogues and kids just do lip/synching or emoting (given full freedom to kids to do that). It would be impossible during the timeframe to make them memorize the dialogues and have sound systems/mics for around 45 actors. Yes 45 small kids from age 4 to 13. It was a huge task to coordinate them, discipline them, instruct them and get response from them.  Coming back to script, it was broken into 33 scenes. To make this relevant we introduced one opening scene and one closing with Visiting Grandma and US born Kid to discuss why Diwali is celebrated and its relevance to Ramayan sequence when Diwali was celebrated to mark return of Ram to Ayodhya after killing Ravan (the final scene in Ramayana). The scenes included Dev Danav War, Ram Janma, Tratika War, Seeta Swayamwar, Manthara episode, Ram Vanvaas, Bharat Bhet, Marich Vadh, SeetaHaran, Jatayu, Hanuman Bhet, AshokVatika and Lanka Dahan , Ram setu and final war, Dronagiri, Kumbhakarn/Indrajeet and Finally Raavan Vadh. It was combination of English Narration with scenes acted during that and conversations if any were said by narrators and emoted by Kids. Each scene should be no more than minute so we can do the whole play in 35 mins and then the story enacted on stage be preceded with Sanskrit narration of 1 mins interspersed between the scenes appropriately. And then there should be dances by dancers from dance schools in between. Totally it should be about an hour of a show. And we should be short enough to sustain interest as well convey the desired effect and desired impact. Honestly I was bit hesitant on Sanskrit side. Audience would not understand thus they would be bored. But as it turned out finally it helped us better streamline the backstage entry and exit sequences for kids. It also gave a studied and researched feel to show. Special mention here of Upendra’s Mom who luckily was present here in us during this period. My Co-Director/Author Prajakta Dixit did an excellent job to share the authoring of scenes.  Her role in entire Dramayana was amazing and she deserves all the applauds for this wonderful experiment.

Casting Kand

Next task was team building. It was not a Film Lagaan show but definitely a TV Soap Opera. This story has got all twists and turns like a TV serial. We called for actors in and around the area from ages 4 to 16. We got response from 60 kids through their parents across various social media forums. We compiled a list and call them all for auditions. We had decided not to disappoint anyone and change script and add roles to accommodate all those interested. We had made list of roles and we tried to match them based on visual impact of the kid. Interacted with them to see how well they understand and respond to instructions to mark those who did not do well to fit into other roles which they can manage. Also we tried to select children based on locations to suit practice logistics and effectiveness. Twists were introduced by some parents who backed off when they knew about roles. Some tried to communicate with us to change roles. We managed finally to manage parental pressures and made them comply with our thought process. We also casted very young kids to show growth sequence of four princes into four young warriors. We had three sets of four princes, two growing and one final. We finalized around 45 kids with different roles including Rakshash Sena and Wanar Sena. As finally turned out on 19^th October it was a great casting. We also had some new kids joining in between and few dropping in between with notice and some without notice. Kudos to all the parents to ensure average 80% or more attendance throughout. They also ensured 100% for the final show and avoid a nightmare situation we feared throughout.  We sometimes had to be tough and were demanding on Parents to ensure that practice went off well and to their credit they cooperated and were totally enthusiastic about the play.  While I understood nuances of parent psychology, their urge to pressurize kids to excel everywhere, I sometimes wonder if it is correct to make kids perform everywhere be it drama, academics, sports, arts, music, robotics, math . By that logic even we as organizers were culprits on adding pressure. But that’s not purpose of discussion here. Thanks again to the wonderful parents. Due to a kid dropping for Kumbhakarna Role at the last minute we had to induct a parent to fit in role. It made a ‘sizable’ impact. Thanks Jigar Badgujar for this sporting act.

Practice and Direction Kand

 To ease out on logistics of super busy kids we decided to have practice twice a week in the evenings. Tuesday practice at two different locations: Rocky Hill and South Windsor. Friday was to be a joint practice at Rocky Hill. It was real challenge to control the small kids, guide their energies and attention to the practice, manage the noise levels, and make them lined up for scenes.  The energy levels when we started scene1 used to get lower and lower till we reach 25^th scene so final war scenes had lot of open ends. Despite help from their parent, it was sheer chaos. To add to the chaos were the actual absence of characters and the fact that the some characters were at other location. Prajakta did wonderful job at South Windsor in training key characters like Ram (Rishi), Laxman (Vyom), Hanuman (Arnav) and Seeta (Anaya). I had some good talent at Rocky Hill in Ravan (Mihir), Indrajeet (Vihaan), Dashrath (Nikhil), Kaikeyi, (Hari), Manthara (Anushka), Shurpankha (Advita), Jatayu (Arohi) Ajji-Kid (Tanvi-Ira)and Tratika (Swara). Diffucult to name everyone but i know each kids now his/her role. This trend continued for two weeks. Though we created structure of the scenes but the overall structure was not self-supporting as we had to intervene more often that we should have. The practice venue: Winter Hall at Century Hills had its own challenges like lack of proper lighting and was not kids/parents friendly.  We learned few lessons;

·         We needed few joint practice  sessions at a venue which could give children a feel of a stage is necessary.

·         We needed a guideline to manage entry exit of kids between the scenes. I knew whatever kids will do in their final dress will look good and be accepted by supportive crowd of parents and families/friends of the kids. Just that each kids should be there on stage for that scene correctly and rest would be managed by narrators

Thus we decided to have three practice sessions in final week on Vallabhdham Temple stage at Newington (Thanks to Durgesh, Upendra and Vallabhdham Management). Secondly we decided to train few parent volunteers (Vinay Padole , Gayatri Sathe, Kanchan K and Veda Kadegaonkar) to know kids, line them for sequence and follow a sequence plan. I used a template out of Directors manual to define entry and exit of each character in each scene and their order. This will help us plan which roles star on which side wings and move to which side to avoid logistical blunders/delays. 

Example

It took some time for Team to understand as there were changes/ confusion. But they did great job during Vallabhdham practices (14, 15, 16 Oct), venue practice and final show. Special thanks to Vinay to help in documenting the flow. During practice on Tuesday we could also practice along with Dance school trainees who were to perform Deep Dance after the Ayodhya entry sequence after war.

With each practice we added structure while I was bit satisfied with third and final practice at Vallabhdham on Wednesday 16^th Oct.  But as then turned out when we decided to practice at venue on Friday 18th it was chaos and again we started praying for everything to go smooth. But thankfully kids got familiarized to stage and backstage and lights/sound. It was a master stroke. Thanks again Durgesh and Upendra. I sat with lights and sound team explaining the sequence and music sequences researched and implemented by Sound team of Prafull Kulkarni and Anupriya Kayande. Lights were managed by Amit and Upendra himself. We adjusted the feedback sound to be heard by narrators and actors on stage. We decided on special properties needed like Dronagiri, Shivdhanush and their positioning on the actual stage. Prajakta as usual was working on Narration and instructing kids to act. She did again a stupendous job.

Lot of effort /coordination was done backstage by team especially the Costume/ Accessories team of Kirti More, Veda and Hemant Kadegaonkar with able support from all the parents.  With all this final day arrived on 19^th Oct 2019.

Final Show kand

I caught up cold and cough on last practice at Vallabhdham. Took medicines and joined the team of parent Volunteers to assist them the preparation. Kids arrived and were handed over to makeup and costume/accessories team.  When we saw them we kind of relaxed. They were looking awesome and cute as prince/demons/kings/warriors/Wanarsena. Thankfully there were no absentees. Parent again did wonderful job arranging costumes. On the day, our event was first so we lined up kids according to sequence defined. And then we started the play. Scenes started, kids performed, exited along the plan, entered the scene on cues assisted by parent volunteers. Audience was enjoying and appreciating as they were clapping especially on sequences like Swayamwar when Ram broke the Shivdhanush ( held by Velcro) , Traitika war, Marich entry in deer costume, Shurpanakha, Manthara, Lanka Dahan (Light effect with LED on Hanuman Tail) , Setu (with Geetramayan and background), war scenes and so on. Apart from few very entry delays there were no mishaps. Background Music went as planned and added lot of effect esp the Tamil song , war music etc. Thanks to Praful to execute and anupriya to research and compile. Narrators and Dubbing artist were the star performers. Amol More, Anand Rajendran and Prajakta said the dialogues with passion, emotions, modulation to add maturity to the show. English Narrator Satish Krishnamurthy was the coordinator to manage scenes and provide real-time feedback control to kids actions, movement and manage the flow.  Sanskrit narrator Sudeep Reterekar made Sanskrit language easy and sustained audience interest.  Overall it was wonderful show enjoyed by a Supportive Crowd. There were many things we could have done better. But Kids really rocked. They enjoyed. Icing on the cake was the Deep Dance. It took things to Magical levels

It was late in the night of 19^th that I realized magnitude of the achievement of performance of this level from 45 US based kids, with coordination by their parents, volunteers, art and costume team, sound team, lights team, Narration team. I think Prajakta also must have felt that way. Special thanks to efforts of Kirti’s team to plan costume, make bows, Dronagiri Parvat out of thermacoal, stones. In US logistics is also issue where manpower is scarce and difficult. We don’t have drivers, helps available easily. They had to carry the property. Sometimes kids broke the bows, sometime things were misplaced.  They made crowns, numbered them audited them. But it did not result into any big problem and things went smooth. The visual impact was amazing. Anupriya researched and compiled apt music which was implemented by Prafulla. Music added a great impact. Parents took all pain to make kids available for all practices. It was hectic. Also they managed the basic costumes. Some ordered the dresses to get delivered on time.

Finally about Kids: They were fabulous. They might have created chaos, noise, but they were genuinely interested. Their energy levels during practice and performance were amazing/ They tried to understand role, emote accordingly. They knew their scene sequence and entry/exit cues. They took genuine efforts. It was not easy to acclimatize with stage, lights, sound, and narration. Another benefit was that some of the kids who did not know Ramayana now know all characters, chronology. No DVD/online/TV  as well as book content could have done that effectively as this involvement in Play could have done. 45 kids together means lot of fun and party time. They were the Men sorry Kids of the Match……

What awesome Diwali celebration. And it was all thanks to Saaksh by PuLa. Whatever I do, there has to be PL touch and reference. Now it’s must for me……

Team