Annual tradition puts a rock-and-roll spin on a timeless story from India
Published in the June 22 – July 5, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
For 2,600 years, the sword-and-sorcery epic of Ramayana has entertained people around the world. First told by the Indian poet Valmiki, the story has been staged by Mount Madonna School for the past 38 years as a rock-n-roll musical. Nearly 200 students performed together June 9 to 12 in creating a world of magical characters who encounter danger and love, good versus evil, duty, heroic action and sacrifice.
The school’s tradition of every year putting on the elaborately staged “Ramayana!” has made it the longest running production of this timeless Indian story in the western hemisphere. For the past seven years, it has been performed at the Mexican Heritage Center in San Jose.
“Ramayana!” tells the tale of Prince Ram, who, banished from his homeland of Ayodhya, leaves with his wife, Sita, and brother, Lakshman, to seek a new home. The trio embark upon an uncertain journey, encountering an array of colorful beings, including tribal folk and gentle forest animals, giants and wizards, heroic monkeys and bears, an enchanted golden deer, a kingdom of demons led by the evil 10-headed Lord Ravana, and a fire-breathing dragon.
Lily Petersen, a Mount Madonna senior who resides in Morgan Hill, enjoyed playing the role of Parvati in the play this year. Being one of the more memorable parts in the story was a stark contrast to her usual background roles dancing and singing in ensembles of other students in previous years, she said.
“I’ve wanted to be Parvati since I was little and it was surreal to do it,” she said. “It made me more conscious of the type of legacy I was leaving behind. I went into the process hoping that I would leave a new mark on this role and inspire the next actor playing Parvati.”
The production has been a constant in Petersen’s life for many of her school years and has taught her how to be a part of a large community and to appreciate and express her gratitude to the hundreds of people who help put on the show.
“The production as well as the performing arts program at the school has helped me gain confidence that I don’t think I would’ve gained elsewhere,” she said. “I am forever thankful for this play and it’s process and I’m sad to leave it behind.”
The show’s student actors, ranging in ages from 3 to 18, are accompanied by a choir and adult musicians in telling the story of love, adventure, separation and an eventual joyous reunion. The classic tale is an ancient allegory of the battle of good and evil. The show is filled with exciting action, spectacular costuming and family humor.
As the story unfolds, relevant, profound and subtle themes emerge — not only the power of goodness and the determination of love, but also the need for compassion for all beings, said Leigh Ann Clifton, director of marketing and communications at Mount Madonna.
“A rich performing arts tradition and integrated arts curriculum make the performances outstanding,” she said. “Put aside any stereotypes of what ‘school play’ might bring to mind. Think professional quality, phenomenal, authentic costumes, staging, musical talent and dramatic accomplishment. This young cast works hard, and it shows.”
Sampad Kachuck has served as the director of the play for many years and sees it as an important cultural experience for not just the students but the broader community.
“An annual rite of passage signaling the school year’s completion, our version of the Ramayana is hopefully respectful to the Indian traditions from which it oriented as well as organic to our own legacy, which we’ve nurtured for nearly four decades,” he said.
Each year’s version of the musical brings its own unique and varying range of “challenges and surprises, boo-boos and breakthroughs, corrections and reflections, frustrations and exaltations all intertwined in a colorful kaleidoscope,” he said. What links these productions together is that theater, like many other endeavors at the school, is an exercise of community building.
Through theatrical immersion, the students face their fears, insecurities and negative judgments in order to take risks of creative investment, Kachuck said. They often discover their confidences and abilities within the process of staging the musical.
“As actors know, we do not perform in a bubble. Through trusted and positive interaction, true theater occurs and community is established,” he said. “Within the process of rehearsal and performance, each student and adult has their own journey of discovery. Certainly, it is a huge thrill to watch the actors expand their talents, build on their confidences, to see them grow and engage creatively, to be willing to play, stretching their comfort zones, working through their doubts and fears.”
The best part of the process is to see the group find a sense of cohesion with everyone uniting in the quest, working together collaboratively with positive spirit and openness, Kachuck said.
“Theatrically, our hope is that students take on the challenge of personalizing their roles, investing deeply into the world of the characters, whether singing, dancing or simply living on stage, engaged passionately and fearlessly,” he said.
Sophia Saavedra, a Mount Madonna senior who resides in Gilroy, played Princess Sita in this year’s “Ramayana!” One of her favorite aspects of the role was the range of emotions that she needed to express to the audience over the course of the play, she said.
“She experiences pure happiness and joy when she is married to Prince Rama, and then anger, confusion and despair when kidnapped by the Demon King Ravana,” she said. “I really feel that having to take on a character with such emotional depth helped me to grow as an actor and as a person.”
One of the things she witnessed while rehearsing in the Ramayana was the growth of her classmates and an appreciation of friends for who they are, Saavedra said.
“Every performance I would linger in the stage wings backstage and watch one of my best friends, who went from being a butterfly to the Queen Mandodari, sing her emotional ballad under a spotlight alone onstage,” she said. “The Ramayana exemplifies Mount Madonna School’s ability to come together as a community, recognize the diverse strengths of our group and create something that we can be proud of.”
Saniya Lakka, a Mount Madonna senior who resides in Gilroy, played the character Queen Mandodari, a very powerful character in the story, she said.
“She is able to discern between what is right a wrong, which is very important for her kingdom,” Lakka said.
The Ramayana is a tradition she loves to share with the Mount Madonna community and she is impressed to see the intricate details that are put into the annual production, she said.
“From the costumes, to the jewelry, to the masks and the wigs, it is amazing to see how much effort is put into everything, and how much this play means to so many people,” Lakka said. “And to be apart of such a spectacular production for 13 years has really made a great impact on me that I will never forget.”
