"Janaki - Daughter of the Dirt"
Playwright: Virali Gokaldas
Directors: Roke Noir & Shruti Purakayastha
Artistic Director & Producer: Roke Noir

Who carves the path you walk?”

Written, and rewritten, talked about and analyzed over thousands of years, “The Ramayana” is a saga about good versus evil. It is integral to the cultural consciousness of India - complete with gods, talking animals, and demons. It depicts the duties and ideal behavior of people, be it servant, king, husband or wife. It is one of Hinduism’s most known and revered epics in praise of the Hindu God “Ram”. “The Ramayana” also extols Ram's wife, “Sita”, also called “Janaki”, known as the perfect woman who sacrifices all for those in her life.

But, do people in power wield this glorious epic to perpetuate a social structure which is self-serving? Could it be that this devotional tale of love and choices around one’s “dharma”, has served as justification for imperialism, racism, destruction of earth and the subjugation of women?

Where do we, as people of the 21st century, find ourselves in the midst of these tales? And what role do these ancient stories play in our modern day existence?