Stage lights on towns

The theme for this year’s Rangashankara Theatre Festival is ‘Not the Metros’. Pablo Bartholomew, Shubha Mudgal and Deepa Dhanaraj will also be in attendance. SRAVASTI DATTA reports

November 03, 2016 03:23 pm | Updated December 02, 2016 01:13 pm IST - Bengaluru

A scene from one of the plays

A scene from one of the plays

A play that busts myths on the great ruler of Maharashtra, Shivaji. A story about clowns. An Assamese production based on a Rabha folk tale. A play set in the Tamil region of Sri Lanka. A production revolving around the life of Suryamal Mishran, a 19th century Rajasthani poet.

A Hindi play based on a ‘Stan Dahini’ short story, Breast Giver written by Mahasweta Devi. A play based on a kavya text that stays true to the rasa experience.

It is such tales that do not belong to the city scape that will be staged at Rangashankara as part of its annual theatre festival. The criteria was to invite theatre companies from small towns, not from cities. “Some of them are in the shadow of metros,” says S. Surendranath, artistic director of Rangashankara. “Mysuru is aspiring to be a metro, for example. We wanted plays that were not produced in metros. But their content might be talking about cities,”

Towns have their own vibrant theatre, he adds. “They each have their own aspirations and anxieties, different from metros. We wanted to know how the theatre companies were taking up these challenges.” One such challenge, Surendranath says is the lack of facilities, which cities have at least in some semblance. “That doesn’t stop them from doing good theatre. Theatre becomes more organic and content-based. S Murugaboopathy uses 20 to 30 actors.

"None of the performers were actors when Shivaji Underground in Bhimnagar was first staged. The play had sparked controversy, then suddenly became famous and was taken up by commercial enterprises. Alok Gagdekar has not performed in a proscenium theatre, he performs with the community, on the streets. K.V. Akshara from Heggodu is creating some wonderful work.”

Apart from plays, there are special events. On November 6, K.G. Radhakrishnan’s Musui, a Santhal boy, will be unveiled by Professor G Venkatasubbiah. S.G. Vasudev will be the chief guest. On November 9 at 6 p.m. Bindumalini will pay a musical tribute to Shankar Nag by singing a few select poems by Bendre. On November 13, at 11 a.m. there will be a director’s round table, moderated by Sadanand Menon, to discuss the future of direction and theatre practice in India. Theatre and Arts Appreciation course, curated by Sadanand Menon, will feature Shubha Mudgal, Pablo Bartholomew, N Pushpamala, Deepa Dhanaraj, Anil Srinivasan and Priyadarshini Govind. The festival will conclude with the Shankar Nag Theatre Award presentation to a young theatre worker of India for his or her contribution to theatre.

***

Play synopsis

Shivaji Underground in Bhimnagar -Playwright: Rajkumar Tangde

Design and direction: Nandu Madhav

Lord Indra sends Yama to fetch Shivaji and his ideas to heaven. On their way, Shivaji tells Yama that he has forgotten his ideas in the human world and must return to find them. As a collateral, he keeps his turban with Yama. But Shivaji doesn’t return for long and Yama goes in search for him by looking for a head that fits the turban. The turban, thus, turns into a metaphor for Shivaji’s ideas. The play takes a look at how political parties have used Shivaji to gain mileage among the masses.

Maayakkomaalikalin Jaalakannadi -Playwright, design and direction: S Murugaboopathy

Clowns in the forest go in search for the Korraththi (gypsy woman) with the colour of dust, smell of mud.

Yugaantara- Playwright : Vi Kru Gokak

Design and direction : Manjunath Badiger

The play is set in Independence. It begins in a railway station, where two families meet. One family is travelling to Delhi for social activism and the other is a spiritual family who are going towards nature. Two people accompany each family. One is comrade Mrinalini, who is with the social activist family, and the other is a poet, who is with the spiritual family. Initially, there are intellectual clashes between them, but eventually their ideas blend.

To’ Paidom -Playwright, design and direction : Sukracharjya Rabha

Based on a Rabha folk tale, To’ Paidom means ‘the bird named Paidom’. The story is centred on a mother and her five sons. While collecting vegetables from her kitchen-garden, the mother notices droppings from an unknown bird. The four older sons decide to hunt the bird, despite warnings from the mother and younger brother. The bird is an evil presence takes over the minds, consume their souls and make them dance to their tune. The youngest son is forced by his mother to save the other brothers. And thus, the play unfolds.

Katha Suvaki Suryamal ki- Playwright, design and direction : Rajendra Panchal

The play revolves around Suryamal Mishran, the 19th century Rajasthani poet. Suryamal gets upset when the Boondi king, Raja Ram Singh doesn’t support the rebels. Suryamal writes Veer Satsai, out of his love for his motherland. But he dies 10 years later disappointed.

Choli Ke Picche kya hai?- Design and direction : Alok Gagdekar

The play is about Jashoda, a Brahmin woman, whose husband loses his legs in an accident. Jashoda is employed as a wet nurse by the Haldars, a lower-caste Hindu family, so that she can tide over the family crisis. Jashoda’s story is an allegorical narrative of ‘Mother’ India after Independence.

Malathi Madhava- Playwright : Bhavabhooti

Design and direction : K.V. Akshara

The play is about Malati and Madhava get married after facing much obstacles. And thus the play unfolds.

***

Schedule

SHIVAJI UNDERGROUND IN BHIMNAGAR, November 6, 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. by Rang Mala, Jalna, Maharashtra.

***

MAAYAKKOMAALIKALIN JAALAKANNADI-November 7, 7.30 p.m.

Manalmagudi Theatre Land, Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu.

***

ONE THIRD (1/3)-November 8, 7.30 p.m.

Indianostrum Theatre,

English

***

YUGAANTARA-November 9, 7.30 p.m.

Natana, Mysore, Kannada.

***

To’ Paidom-November 10, 7.30 p.m.

Badungduppa, Assam

Rabha, Assamese

***

KATHA SUKAVI SURYAMAL KI-November 11, 7.30 p.m.

Perafin Society, Kota,

Rajasthani, Hindi, English - ***

CHOLI KE PICCHE KYA HAI?-November 12, 3.30 and 7.30 p.m. Budhan Theatre Society, Chharanagar, Gujarat

Hindi

***

MALATHI MADHAVA-November 13, 3.30 and 7.30 p.m., Ninasam, Heggodu, Karnataka

Kannada

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