Sita & Urmila Unheard Conversations - The Great Indian Theatre Company

Reviewed by Jordan D'Arcy

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Sita & Urmila; Unheard Conversations is a locally written retelling of an Indian folktale. Writer and director Sreekanth Gopalakrishnan has previously been involved in a production where this folktale was performed in a more traditional manner, being that Sita and Urmila were left in the background while their husbands took the limelight. His particular draw to creating this version of the story was to delve into Urmila’s narrative. 

Legend has it that Sita and Urmila were married to royal brothers Rama and Lakshmana (or Ram and Laxman as in this production), and Rama is forced to spend a period of 14 years in exile after their older brother ascends the throne. Sita and Laxman accompany Rama in his exile, but Laxman demands that Urmila stay at home. Sita and Urmila are devastated to spend time apart, as their sisterly bond is so strong. Soon after beginning the period of exile, Laxman is approached by Nidra, the deity of sleep, and he requests to be alleviated of the need to sleep so that he may properly protect his brother and sister-in-law. Nidra agrees, provided someone is prepared to take on his sleep for him, and he nominates Urmila. Urmila is then said to have been approached by Nidra, and she takes on his sleep for 14 years.

In this version of the tale, Urmila can see Sita in her dreams as she sleeps, but Sita cannot hear her. 

The production had beautiful costumes (Param Kaur and Sreekanth Gopalakrishnan) that were very proudly traditional. The set was basic, but effective – I particularly liked the depth the forest provided. 

Prakriti Rayamajhi as Sita and Karthika Nair as Urmila were believable as sisters with a strong bond. Combined, they carried the bulk of the storytelling and the pace of the show. Akshay Sheela Nair’s monkey physicality as the deity Hanuman was excellent. 

This production did not have an intermission, despite running for an hour and 50 minutes. There was a perfect opportunity for an intermission when Urmila was sent to sleep, which would have been welcomed in the slightly squishy seats in the Nexus auditorium. 

I loved that, although there were definitely some westernised aspects to the staging of this performance, there were multiple points where more traditional Indian performance techniques shone. Sindhu Nair’s choreography was beautiful and strongly executed by Deepti Shukla as Nidra, and transitions between scenes were underscored by original music composed by Ananya Giridhar.

This short season is already over, but congratulations to the cast and crew of Sita & Urmila; Unheard Conversations on your season.

Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.