Sita: The Ramayana Revisited premiered at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Bond of Drama Schools in La Salle College of the Arts in Singapore. Since then, this Philippine version of Asia’s most widespread epic from Sanskrit origins has performed to acclaim to large audiences in Bangkok, New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Iligan, and now Ayodha in Uttar Pradesh. Ayodha is King Rama’s royal enclave where he built his palace.
Sita highlights Dipotsava 2019, the Ayodha festival, at the Ramkatha Park, 6 p.m. on Oct. 26.
The same Sita performs for more Indian events next year as IPAG’s performance represents India’s influencing presence in Philippine culture. Philippine languages, lore, values, religion, and Filipino creative cultural expressions embed significant influences from India in the Philippines’ long relationships with this sub-continent.
Sita has received much acclaim in its road shows, its glowing reception coming from the most avid Ramayana scholars in the region. The Philippine embassy has revealed that Sita’s popularity in India has been due to its proximity to the spirit and form of the original Indian Sanskrit. IPAG’s Sita has been contemporized to capture social issues in today’s modern society.
This version inspired by the Valmiki original is attributed to Steven P.C. Fernandez who also directed and composed the music with Geejay Areola Langlois.
In the Ayodha cast are Marc Andrew Pasanos (Rama), Xela Ubalde (Sita), Kenn Erwin Velasquez (Hanuman), Joe Mar Lacasan (Lawana), Psymon Flores (Sugriva), MacMarvin Palomares, Joshua Valenciano, Joshua Sanchez, Jane Allyson Dantes, Lochelle Therese Dano, and Lilybeth Maraon (Stage Manager).
Liaison is Hermi Dico, designs by Tres Cantera and Vicmar Paloma, and Dico, with live music performed by Meshaq Dangel, Victor Arlan, and Fernandez.
In related events, Sita drums up the International University Theatre Association (IUTA) when the Philippines hosts this in August 2020 at the CCP. Opening salvo has been set in February at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
March 15, 2019- The resident cultural group of MSU-IIT, Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG) performs another dazzling stage show at the MSU-IIT Gymnasium with audiences from the Iligan Computer Insitute (ICI), Lyceum of Iligan Foundation, and MSU-IIT students and faculty. The show’s piece, Sita: Ramayana Revisited, has been performed many times by the group, but one never gets tired to have a repeat. Ramayana (Sanskrit for Rama’s Journey) is a Hindu epic and one of the largest in the world literature. The IPAG show builds around Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, who was abducted by the demon king Ravana and consequently Rama had to rescue Sita. In the Hindu epic, Sita epitomizes purity and virtue and when Rama refuses to believe her faithfulness to him and demands proof, she steps into the flame. It follows that Sita wasn’t touched by the fire proving that she did not betray her husband neither in thought or in action. The theatrical depiction of IPAG of Valmiki’s Ramayana brought life to the epic receiving thunderous applause from the audience. The subtle nuances of every movement and facial expressions of the show’s performers speaks volume of the quality of performance of the institute’s resident group.
Honing talents in the theater arts and showcasing it in the world stage, the MSU-IIT resident cultural group is under the creative direction of Dr. Steven Patrick Fernandez. As MSU-IIT pride nothing is more spectacular, but to witness them perform in the MSU-IIT stage. The Sita: Ramayana Revisited of IPAG is no less another remarkable feat to witness.
March 15, 2019- The resident cultural group of MSU-IIT, Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG) performs another dazzling stage show at the MSU-IIT Gymnasium with audiences from the Iligan Computer Insitute (ICI), Lyceum of Iligan Foundation, and MSU-IIT students and faculty. The show’s piece, Sita: Ramayana Revisited, has been performed many times by the group, but one never gets tired to have a repeat. Ramayana (Sanskrit for Rama’s Journey) is a Hindu epic and one of the largest in the world literature. The IPAG show builds around Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, who was abducted by the demon king Ravana and consequently Rama had to rescue Sita. In the Hindu epic, Sita epitomizes purity and virtue and when Rama refuses to believe her faithfulness to him and demands proof, she steps into the flame. It follows that Sita wasn’t touched by the fire proving that she did not betray her husband neither in thought or in action. The theatrical depiction of IPAG of Valmiki’s Ramayana brought life to the epic receiving thunderous applause from the audience. The subtle nuances of every movement and facial expressions of the show’s performers speaks volume of the quality of performance of the institute’s resident group.
Honing talents in the theater arts and showcasing it in the world stage, the MSU-IIT resident cultural group is under the creative direction of Dr. Steven Patrick Fernandez. As MSU-IIT pride nothing is more spectacular, but to witness them perform in the MSU-IIT stage. The Sita: Ramayana Revisited of IPAG is no less another remarkable feat to witness.
