Theatre

   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…

There was an extra festive element at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival this time, as it fell between Dasara and Deepavali. The Theatre Festival started on October 16 and wound up on October 23. Street play at Ranga Shankara. Pic: H V Venugopal This year's theme was "Political Theatre," a controversial topic that brings out debate, and creativity, in people. Keeping with the theme, there were several contemporary folk theatre performances and documentaries screened, with vigorous discussions at the end. Sadanand Menon's workshop on Theatre and Arts Appreciation was very well-attended, as was the seminar on the same theme. "It…

Street play is one of the most basic forms of theatre. It is truly theatre of and for the masses. No special stages, elaborate sets, props, or costumes are required, no time is wasted, no special environment is created, and no fee is paid-yet, street theatre can speak directly to the heart of the viewer. The energy and vitality of performing in a public environment to a public audience also makes street play the perfect vehicle for political protest and propaganda. In India, the name of Safdar Hashmi is synonymous with political street theatre. The Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2011,…

The Ranga Shankara Theatre Fest 2011 had a political theme- all the events including seminars, film screenings, plays and platform performances have a political thread running through them. But then, who can get more political than Badal Sircar, the doyen of anti-establishment theatre in our country? Pic Courtesy: Ranga Shankara The Rangshila theatre group from Mumbai staged Sircar's "Teesveen Shatabdi" or "Thirtieth Century," on 21 October, a fascinating play about the moral aspects of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. This is one of Sircar's early plays written in 1966. A time when the echoes…

When I go to Ranga Shankara to see a play, I go with an open mind...as I often say, I go, not knowing if it will be "fair play" or "foul play"! Recently (7th of October) I went to watch the interpretation of Hamlet, staged by the Mumbai troupe, Cinematograph. And I saw one of the best productions I have seen in the recent past. The cast in one of the scenes. Pic: Author It's always a difficult exercise to make a comic interpretation of a tragedy...it could work, or fall so flat that it might become a worse tragedy…

Wise words About the Green line between Greece & Cyprus A potent message Facts on Northern Ireland's religious divide Separating Palestine and Israel Symbols of peace? US shuts out Mexicans The performers pause Why do people build walls between their territories? To ensure privacy? Or safeguard themselves and their belongings? But the borders between "neighbours" such as the United States of America and Mexico, India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine and other places have been doing much more than protecting the citizens of the respective countries. In fact, they have managed to sow the seeds of violence and animosity apart…

      The word "Soorpanangu" is a concoction that is drawn from two root words-Soorpanagai, the demon sister of Ravana, and the Tamil word "Anangu" which means "Woman". In a deeper sense, "Anangu" can be interpreted as "demon", "one without form", or "invisible". Indeed, an apt description of the pitiable state of Woman. The press write-ups for the play appeared impressive, as did the fantastic photographs that appeared along with write-ups. The play, staged at the fabulous Ravindra Kalakshetra, had a formal inauguration, and all the guests emphasized on the experimental nature of the play. Pic: Pugal Magendran Dr…

For many years now, I have been following the work of Yours Truly Theatre (YTT), a young Bangalore theatre group. They can be said to have pioneered Interactive Theatre in India. Called "Playback Theatre", it was started in the 1970's in the US, and is now hugely popular across the world. Instead of a fixed script, it is an interaction between the audience and the cast; the performers take the inputs provided by the members of the audience, and stage a scene with their own dramatic interpretation. Playback theatre has three established ways of presenting the stories: Fluids, Stories, and…

Eugene Ionesco, a Romanian/French playwright, was one of the pioneers of the Theatre of the Absurd, along with such playwrights as Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet and Harold Pinter. Since he uses gibberish and parody and, sometimes, non sequitors (Latin for "it does not follow." It is most often used as a noun to describe illogical statements) as the basis of his plays, it was a fairly difficult task for the group to stage the play. In "The Bald Soprano", too, one has to use the words "allegedly" and "apparently" very often. The excellent brochure that  Little Jasmine, the theatre group…

It is always pleasant to go to a play which is for children, and even more so when it is being staged to celebrate something good. In this case, it was the play, "Robi's Garden", which was an original play by Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT), to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Association for the Mentally Challenged (AMC).BLT was founded in 1960, and is the city's oldest theatre society. In 2006, BLT set up a separate Academy of Theatre Arts. BLT has a strong programme for children's theatre, and usually stages a major production every year in the August/September period.…