With colorful stage techniques, they recreate the epic of ‘The Ramayana’ at the Cenart

Love, revenge and betrayal are the passions that arise behind the masks and shadows used to narrate the odyssey of a banished prince who fights armies of demons to rescue his wife. The epic story of The Ramayana It is presented at the National Arts Center.

The company En Boca de Lobo Producciones, from Yucatán, travels a synthesized theatrical version of the epic book attributed to the poet Valmiki, written in the 3rd century. On stage, dance, shadow theater and the use of masks are the techniques that make the imagination flow in an odyssey through one of the most important books in India, adapted and directed by Luis Martín Solís.

The actresses Érika Torres and Nili Yamile transfigure and superimpose personalities thanks to the imposture of the voice, the gestures of the body, the traditional ritual masks and puppets that recover the Asian tradition. From one moment to the next, with the magic of two white fabrics as scenery, an enraged demon, an unbreakable hero, a wise monkey, an impatient lover, impetuous armies parade, all characters from an original text of about 800 pages.

Érika Torres explained that to present The Ramayana (passages from the shadows) They relied on the Balinese dance and mask specialist Jessica Gámez, who guided them with the rules of the discipline in accordance with tradition. Strengthening breathing muscles, trying to pronounce as well as possible, changing personnel and dance training are some of the efforts that involve performing with your face covered and in constant activity.

Both actresses spoke with the press before the season premiere last Thursday at the Cenart Arts Forum. The production premiered at Mérida Fest 2023. Being very aware of our breathing and what we are doing, very expanded in body, in voice, knowing where to place each element at the right time with great precision. It is part of the technical difficulty during an hour of performance, Yamile said.

As a pocket Ramayana Luis Martín Solís described this version that is presented for two weeks in Mexico City. I thought it was crazy, but in the end it was done. He commented that he has dedicated his entire life to theater, but it was as a young man that, thanks to a course with the Uruguayan puppeteer Nicolás Loureiro, he learned about the shadow theaters of Southeast Asia; He talked about figures made of buffalo skin, and in Malaysia they had a piece of human skin, which left a lasting impression in his memory.

Years later he made a book to describe the history of shadow theater in the world, and in his career he has done a lot with this projection technique in montages.

“These are the founding stories of Asian theater, both the Mahabharata As the Ramayana”. He commented: I wanted to give it to me, since he did not see theater as a child, until he was 16 or 17 years old at the International Cervantino Festival. His version of Ramayana It is something that he would have liked to see as a child, although the work offered by Cenart is aimed at audiences over 12 years old. He celebrated that the Arts Forum allows intimacy and appreciation of the details of the masks and puppets.

The stage director expressed his desire that the play could travel around the country, how the representations of the journey of Rama, one of the incarnations of the god Vishnu in Hinduism, are recreated in the small towns of Asia, not only India, but from others in the region such as Cambodia, Indonesia or Malaysia, with different formats. From dusk to dawn they take on traditional montages that last about eight hours.

The end of the play is chillingLuis Martín Solís incited curiosity. We guarantee that they will be shockedwere his words when commenting on the validity of such an ancient text that comes into play with very luminous literature.

Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 6 p.m. The season ends on March 24.