ARTS and CULTURE

This is Cult Entertainment's seventh production, after plays such as God by Woody Allen, and Black and White, adapted from the works of Rowan Atkinson. Their latest play, the Imaginary Invalid, had a successful showing earlier this month at Brigade MLR Center, JP Nagar, on the April 12th, and was performed at Kyra Theatre and Restaurant, Indiranagar on the April 15th.The protagonist of the play is Anthony Rathnam (Praveen Kumar), a Tamil Christian hypochondriac, who believes himself to be ill but doesn't quite know what he suffers from. He is forever convinced of the incurability of his condition and places…

Dramanon (Short for Dramatist Anonymous) is a theatre group whose fortunes I have followed ever since they "set up shop" in Bengaluru six years ago. I have reviewed every one of their productions, except for "Reservoir Dogs". A scene from the play. Pic: Deepa Mohan Their latest production is the intricately-wrought, witty play, "This", written by Melissa James Gibson. It is is a poignant comedy about four urban people, who, past the first blush of youth, are examining what the rest of their lives mean. Jane is a single mother, who's lost her husband a year ago; Marell and Tom…

Normally, if you were to walk past the East West Center- The headquarters of the Bangalore School of Music- in R.T. Nagar, you would hear students rattling away at their pianos, violins and flutes. Now, the India National Youth Orchestra will stop you dead with the rich sounds escaping the center.They have been practising for a concert to be held on April 10th, ninety-five musicians will perform at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, conducted by maestro Vijay Upadhyaya. The event is presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, New Delhi- in collaboration…

The waves of nostalgia that wash over me when I think about "My Bangalore" can sometimes be overwhelming. There is no other city on the planet that I am as attached to in a deep psychic sense. After all, I spent some of my most formative years there. Those parts of Bangalore I knew well, I knew because I had a bicycle and I cycled all over the city. I think I probably knew about half the city intimately and the other half not at all. Before the bicycle, there were the 131 and 7 doubledeckers, and the occasional 131D and 7A singledeckers. I distinctly remember…

The 74th celebration of the month-long carnatic music festival in Fort High School in Chamrajpet on the occasion of Ramanavami is back. The festival will be on from April 1, 2012 to May 6, 2012 organised by Shri Rama Seva Mandali. Many well-known performers like Kadri Gopalnath on (Saxophone), HS Bhavya (Veena) and Archana Marathe(Violin) will be performing at these concerts.Here is the schedule for the month. April 65.15 pm - Vandana B D & Group6.30 pm - Aruna Sairam & GroupApril 75.15 pm - Mandolin Aravind Bhargav & Group6.30 pm - Sanjay Subrahmanyan/ S Varadhrajan/ B Harikumar/ S VenkatramanApril…

It is common to see familiar faces at Indian classical music concerts. But it was not familiarity that made me take note of this elderly gentleman. It was clear he was no ordinary rasika. He always sat at the first row with two other familiar faces. He would request specific ragas as is expected of any rasika. But what was unique, was that he was able to recall when that particular raga was sung previously, by which particular artist, at which sabha or when it was sung for the first time by the particular artist. This is what sets apart…

The Chitrakala Parishath art complex is a landmark on Kumara Krupa road, its distinct stone façade and portico stamping itself on the memory of most visitors. This week however, viewers will be in for a surprise - the entire set of buildings has been swathed in diaphanous white cloth as part of an art project by a student in the college, twenty four year-old Ashray Dravidian, currently pursuing his Bachelor's Degree in art History at the institution. The ongoing students' annual show within the galleries seemed an appropriate time for such an experiment. Chitrakala Parishath on Kumara Krupa Road, shrouded…

Bangaloreans gathered in thousands to witness the staging of an unique event "Sahasra Veena Jhenkara" at the Palace Grounds. Jointly organised by the Art of Living and Ranjini Kala Kendra. Event was held on March 28, Pic: Sridhar C R The audience witnessed 1110 Veena Artistes of Karnataka from age groups 7-70. Prominent among those who participated in the show were noted Artistes Suma Sudhindra, D Balakrishna, Anuradha Madhusudhan and Dr Hema Ranganathan, Vijayalakshmi from Shimoga.The programme was inaugurated by Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji of the Art of Living along with Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda and Suparna Ravi…

"After studies, all I want to do is dance,"says Rohini Prabhath, 19, from Gandhi Bazaar, who is learning Kathak at Abhinava School of Dance for the past 12 years. Rajendra and Nirupama at their dance studio, where classes are conducted. Pic: Deepthi M S The dance school is founded by internationally acclaimed Kathak and Bharathanatyam dancers, Nirupama Rajendra, 41 and TD Rajendra, 44. Abhinava Schools of Dance along with Abhinava Dance Company are initiatives of Abhinava Arts Center, a non-profit Trust in Basavanagudi.Both Nirupama and Rajendra have been trained in Kathak and Bharathanatyam by renowned gurus and are in the…

Bengaluru is all set to host its first edition of Film Harvest 2012 starting from March 16, 2012 to March 20, 2012. UB City, The Collection in association with Sublime Galleria presents "Film Harvest 2012" with an aspiration to create an international platform for filmmakers from across the world. Uzma Irfan, Director of Prestige Group, who also serves as the Festival Chairperson, has conceptualised the festival. The film festival will showcase a variety of films ranging from short film to documentaries & full-length features, all made on the theme of Social Responsibility. The film festival will begin with a musical…