Theatre

In Bangalore in the early 90's, I was very impressed by one very young dramatist who wrote plays in English that showed a talent and an ability to mirror social issues well beyond his physical age.I watched every production of Mahesh Dattani's plays that I could, and bought the book of his plays to read the rest. I have also grown up in Kolkata, enjoying the vibrant Bengali theatre scene; to me,there was no greater  accolade of a person's creative talent than the words, "O theatar korcche" (He is into theatre).  So when my friend Shangon told me that a…

I've attended, and enjoyed, several of Bangalore Little Theatre's productions over the years, because it's Bangalore's oldest theatre society...but this evening's production of "The Court Jester: Tales of Tenali Rama" was very special for me, as my grandchildren, 5 and 1, were visiting me, and I'd been very keen to give Kavya (the elder) a taste of theatre...so having a children's play by BLT to go to was a wish come true! The whole family went to Woodlands Hotel to find that things were delayed a bit, but Vijay Padaki filled in the gap with great panache. He first invited…

Having watched Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research (what a mouthful, I'll call it ALTAR for short!)'s earlier production, "The Tenth Head" at Ranga Shankara, and reviewed it here, I was prepared for an interesting evening when I went to watch "Nidrdravathvam". The play is about two brothers of the protagonist and the antagonist of the Ramayana: Lakshmana and Kumbhakarna. They are connected in having received boons that, in the words of the excellent brochure provided by ALTAR, "dramatically alter their cycles of sleep and wakefulness." Kumbharkarna's tongue is tied by Saraswati, and instead of asking for "Nirdevatvam" (destruction of the Devas) he…

The play, "The Tenth Head", written by Vinay Kumar KJ, directed by Veenapani Chawla, and staged by Adishakti Laboratory and Theatre Art Research, Puduchery, has a very interesting central premise: that all the heads of Ravana are not alike, and that the tenth head is quite different from the other nine.   Intrigued by this, I went to watch the staging at Ranga Shankara, on the 18th of February, 2014. I found myself both interested and puzzled at different times during the play.   The on-again-off-again power situation took its toll on Ranga Shankara's usual punctuality, and the play started…

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…

For two years now the oldest film studio in town has been home to our work… It is time to leave…but before we go… Sign-out rafiki presents a series of performances as a tribute to the space. March, 2013 Thursday 28th The Fabulous Adventures of Aditi and Friends rafiki 7pm Friday 29th Somewhat Like a Balloon Just Theatre 7pm Saturday 30th Woza Albert! rafiki 7pm Sunday 31st Full Meals Tahatto 6pm Jannal & Seethaimark Seeyakkaai Thool Koothu-p-pattarai and PERCH 7pm All performances will be at our space: c/o K K Foundation and Public Charitable Trust 48/3 (Opp. Al Ameen Hospital)…

Those familiar with cricket would know that "doosra" is a cricket term that refers to a type of delivery bowled by off-spin bowlers (just like a "bouncer" is bowled by fast bowlers). Off-spinners generally bowl off-breaks. A doosra is the opposite of an off-break, i.e. it spins in the direction opposite to an off-break, taking the batsmen by surprise because the delivery he receives would not be what he expects.  "Doosra", an English play written and directed by Anand Raghav and performed by Paradigm Creations seems to have lived up to its name and surprised many who saw it. Sanjay Mysoremutt,…

Doosra's protagonist is the Game of Cricket itself. The changes in the game are depicted through the life of an ambitious and talented 20 year old Ganesh who gets to represent the country. Driven by power, politics, money and pressure, Ganesh's metamorphosis illustrates the changing phase of the game which, over the years has grown from a much loved sport to a commercial venture. The play offers the perspectives of a father who believes in the values of the game, an obsessed fan with a love and hate attitude, a victimized team captain, a bookie who represents the darker side of the…

I was looking forward very much to the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival this year, and was even happier to note that there would be a curtain-raiser montage of Shakespeare by Evam. Evam, to use a punning phrase, usually has its act together, and I was looking forward to some good pre-entertainment entertainment.Alas, I do not know who thought of using the entire ground floor space of Ranga Shankara (and the stairs, too) as a stage for the montage. Though the idea was a novel one, and intended to gather in the audience all over, with scenes being played at different…

"Krafff", staged by La Compagnie du Théâtre Romette ( a collaboration between an artistic director, Johanny Bert and a choreographer Yan Raballand) cannot be called a "play" in the usual sense of the term. There are a team of five "actors"who, on stage, create a life-sized mannikin out of lengths of craft paper and a few rubber bands. Four of them ,(whom I must designate as puppeteers, though they claim not to be) then bring the marionette to life, and it interacts, for a riveting 35 minutes, with the fifth member, who is a dancer and acrobat, with all the…