play

It's quite unusual to go to review a play that's been running for some time, but I did just that on the 23rd of January, as I went to watch "The Incredible Mullah Nasruddin" at Ranga Shankara. This was their 13th show. The play is a production by the "AHA!" children's theatre wing of Ranga Shankara. The main protaganist is Mullah Nasruddin, who, in this version, comes from Arabia to India to garner wisdom, and undergoes various experiences, depicted in 21 short vignettes. The play had several features unusual in children's theatre. For one, there was a blue turban that…

Road was filled with children playing various games. Pic courtesy: ESAF Bangalore FB page ESAF and HealthBridge in association with Kasturi Nagar Mahila Samaj celebrated children’s day by reclaiming street on 3rd Cross Street, Kasturi Nagar on 17/11/2013, Sunday between 11am – 1pm. Under the leadership and support of Vimala Gowda, President, Kasturi Nagar Mahila Samaj members utilised this opportunity to teach children about the games they played on street when they were children. Traditional games such as Kunte Pillai, Chowka Bhara, Chinese checkers, Chess, Ayuthu mane, pakida atta, cycling and running race were organised by members of ESAF. ESAF,…

I have been following rafiki, a theatre group, from the time when they used to stage the plays of Athol Fugard, South African playwright and novelist.They stage plays with ideological contexts and started working with children in the field of theatre, too. I have seen their struggles and their hard times, and so it was with even more satisfaction than usual that I noted that they collaborating with “Toto Funds the Arts” (TFA) to stage an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s work at Ranga Shankara, on September 6th and 7th, 2012. A scene from Rafiki's play. Pic: Nitye Sood At first,…

Dreamscope Theatres’ play ‘The Forest’  was presented at JSS Auditorium in Jayanagar on August 5th. The play was written and directed by Puja Goel; she also is the founder of the group. She wrote the play 15 years ago. The Forest presents a play for children but sends a message to adults making them aware about the depleting forest. This play engages a child’s psychology and her decision to save the forest. The foresters. Pic: Abhishek Angad At the centre, the play is from the last remains of the earth-forest. The foresters, the flowers, trees, animals and butterflies, believe that…

With every day of this summer getting hotter, our motivation to get out, take a walk or sweat it out is declining. Be it Football, tennis, cricket or netball, it’s just getting too hot to play. The summer vacations have started and now everyone is looking for ways to excercise, energise and be entertained. And what better way to do that than spending a day at an indoor sports arena close to where you live? Indoor Games. Pic Courtesy: XLR8 Accelerate and runSituated on the Hennur - Begalur Main Road lies your first choice- the XLR8 Indoor Sports Arena. Here's…

It was a lovely evening to walk down to Ranga Shankara to see my first ‘serious’ play since my return to the city after a long absence....and I was not disappointed. “Ms.Meena”, on at Ranga Shankara from July 28 to August 1, is a joint effort between the members of Perch, a Chennai-based theatre group, and rafiki, a Bangalore group. The creative use of props - two brooms have become the handrail of a bus and the winnowing frame the steering wheel. Pic: Deepa Mohan. Sachin Gurjale and Sunitha of rafiki had watched two productions of Perch - Sangathi Arinhya…

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…

When I went to college to study Computer Science at BITS, Pilani, located in a remote village of Rajasthan, I never expected the remoteness of the place to exceed the extent of not having a cinema hall. How could we sustain an existence of 4 years without the staple Indian diet of bollywood movies? Thankfully BITS fostered a strong sense of multi-cultural living, in addition to of-course studying computer science. So enough and more emphasis was laid on participating in variety of activities like college fests, theatre, photography, dance, music etc. through the form of various clubs. Inherit the Wind…