performance

My friend Priya Venkatesh,  herself a theatre person, told me about another interesting and unusual performance at Jagriti on the 15th of January, 2015. So I went with her and three other friends, to watch "Two Women Talking." The excellent brochure produced by Jagriti talked of story-telling, not as the retailing of fiction, but as the telling of one's life experiences. In fact, the telling of one's personal stories, and listening to those of others, has been designated as a form of therapy for everyone. The two protagonsists, if that is the right word, were Monsoon Bissell and Benaifer Bhadha.…

In an earlier column we explored how musicians attempt to push boundaries in their presentations, particularly by bringing poetry, often arcane, to the stage. In this post, let’s continue examining how others have attempted to similarly expand both the listeners’ choices and their own exploration of vernacular poetry. Swati Tirunal is perhaps the most famous of all poet-composers from Kerala. The works of other Malayalam poets such as Warriyar, Thampi, Tulasivanam are slowly becoming popular as they are presented as songs thanks to the efforts of vocalists such as Shankaran Namboothiri. Here is the composition "Karuna Cheyvaa Enthu Thaamasam" of…

   Around mid August this year, 21 volunteers from 14 countries arrived in southern India to work and learn from marginalized communities about their challenges pertinent to health and sanitation. They were part of "Health on Stage", a six week project where they learnt to use forum theatre to initiate simultaneous dialogues on public health in low income areas of Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai. And on 30th September, the 3 groups of participants, their trainers and faciliators gathered in Bangalore to share their experiences with healthcare professionals, media persons and theatre artists.It is well known that water related illnesses are…

Why is it that many of us lack manners and consideration. Is it the way we were brought up or we display our pushiness in minor things when most other things are beyond our control. Is the nature of Bangaloreans changing?  Usha Vaidyanathan writes about a fusion performance by Dr L Subramaniam, Ambi Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Ernie Watts and Corky Siegel at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, earlier this year, disturbed by some obnoxious members of the audience. Should not the organizers escort such people out? Who will bell the cat?The doors were closed at 7:05 and the invocation began. Just as…