Trouble Follows Shortened Version of Epic ‘Ramayana’

Ambition sometimes exceeds reach. Such was the case Saturday when Rangoli Foundation for Art and Culture presented “Ramayana,” the epic Indian dance drama, at Los Angeles Theatre Center. Directed and choreographed by Malathi Iyengar, the ancient tale of good triumphing over evil was plagued with problems ranging from the technical to the creative.

Featuring both Bharata Natyam and Kathak, the classical dances of southern and northern India, respectively, as well as folk dance styles, the work was disjointed and sloppy. The religious fable that can sometimes last four or five hours was, mercifully, reduced to two here, but even with those scenes Iyengar opted to present--and with live musical accompaniment--the evening blurred.

Indeed, Suresh Iyengar’s lighting was a series of miscues, with the house lights up half the time, and arbitrary stage lighting leaving the dancers either in the dark or unflatteringly presented.

Malathi Iyengar, whose performing chores included musician, narrator and dancer, stumbled over words while reading and would then leave the musicians’ side of the stage to dance. In the roles of evil queen and Ravana’s sister, she displayed speed, agility and poise, but any kind of spell that might have been cast was broken when she resumed her narration: the story of prince Rama and princess Sita and their adventures during their 14-year exile, including Sita’s abduction and the war waged to recover her from the clutches of demon king Ravana.

*

As Rama, T.B. Unnikrishnan was appealingly boyish and light on his feet. Lakshmi Iyengar (Malathi’s daughter), as Sita, also displayed fine form, stamping out complex rhythms, her hands graceful and filigreed.

Praveen Kumar as Ravana was more benign, however, than evil, while the dreadlocked Ronald Burton did triple duty as demon, king and monkey, leaping high and passionately. Also twirling with finesse: K. Murali Mohan as Rama’s brother and Sathyanarayana Murthy in various roles.

Besides the lighting glitches, which did little to make the story flow, the drama was not up to mimetic snuff, the dancers over-emoting. An evening of pure dance--minus drama--would have been preferable.