Bangalore:
Nataka Bengaluru is back. This time, the festival will last three months, as 18 plays will be performed thrice over, at three different venues.
This is the third time the festival has been organised. What is unique about the event is that there are no sponsors, no organisers.
All 18 troupes are from Bangalore, and each will bear the cost of producing the play it performs. "It's truly theatre for the sake of theatre. We expect no government support," says says Suresh Anagalli, regional director, National School of Drama (NSD).
NSD, however, will pitch in with its mite, as it takes care of the expenses involved in hiring out the three venues -- Ravindra Kalakshetra, Ranga Shankara and Gurunanak Bhavan. "At the last venue, we are also paying the performance fee of the artiste," Anagalli says.
Nataka Bengaluru is a 'co-operative movement' says Anagalli, as the troupes are keen to keep theatre alive. This mode of producing and staging plays is fast gaining popularity.
Describing the process, Anagalli says, "Getting organised for the big event, booking the venue for 18 consecutive days, putting together publicity material, getting a mention in the daily listings of newspapers... the challenges are endless."
"We do not rely on corporate sponsorships. There isn't much scope for recovering the `1 or `1.5 lakh that we spend on each production," says Shashidhar Barighat of the Samudaya troupe, which will be staging a Kannada adaptation of a play by Tagore, which will be directed by Padma Shri awardee MS Sathyu.
With audiences scattered over a fast-expanding city, gathering the crowds for the performances will be quite a challenge.
"The Ravindra Kalakshetra, which was meant to be a stage for theatrical performances, now hosts a range of programmes.
Continuity has thus been lost, and the theatre-going crowd should now be lured back to Ravindra Kalakshetra," Barighat said.
Despite the odds, the artistes feel a sense of purpose in soldiering on with Kannada theatre, presenting 'grassroots culture' to an audience sated with well-marketed, slickly produced plays.
Among the plays to be performed is Mastakabhisheka Rehearsallu, written by HS Shivprakash. History and mythology offer perspective to contemporary events in this play, which uses Shravanabelagola as a background. Other plays include Sanchari Theatru's Narigeke Kodilla, directed by N Mangala; Drishya's Paying Guest, directed by Dakshayini Bhat; Sanchaya's Anke Thappida Shankarlal, directed by Ganesh KR, Benakathiluru's Mandigagadiru Bali, directed by MC Anand and Abhinaya Tharanga's Toba Teksingh, directed by Charan.
Copyright restricted. Under license from
www.3dsyndication.com