Karnataka - Bangalore

Ten-day theatre festival of young directors from Sunday

Bangalore: Theatre buffs in the State and elsewhere, who have become bored of seeing the decades-old Kannada dramas, will now be enthralled by a set of 10 new Kannada dramas during a 10-day festival. It will feature dramas directed by young directors, who have been trained at institutions such as the National School of Drama and Neenasam.

‘Ranga Prathibha – 2008’ organised by the Sangeeta Nataka Akademi, the Karnataka Nataka Academy and the Directorate of Kannada and Culture will be inaugurated on January 6 by playwright Chandrashekhara Kambara, MLC. Sangeeta Nataka Akademi secretary Jayant Kastuar will participate in the function.

Briefing presspersons on the festival, I.M. Vittalamurthy, Secretary, Kannada and Culture, Information and Tourism, said the dramas would be staged at Ravindra Kalakshetra here. A selection committee headed by Dr. Kambara had chosen the drama directors, who were in the 25 to 40 age group.

Recalling the signal contribution made by the Kannada directors in theatre, he said the connoisseurs had been getting old dramas which were written and directed in the early 1970s.

This festival had been organised with a view to introducing new generation directors and dramas. The new directors were K.R. Onkar, a product of NSD, K. Ramakrishniah, Manjunath L. Badiger, Malathesha Badiger, A. Dakshayani Bhat, Vasudeva V. Gangera, G.J. Sridhara Murthy, Sripad Bhat, Ritwik Simha and Sasvehalli Satish.

B. Jayashree, theatre director and member, Sangeeta Natak Akademi, said Mr. Malathesha Badiger was the recipient of the Bismillah Khan Award of the akademi. Mr. Bhat and Mr. Ramakrishnaiah had doctoral degrees in theatre.

Mr. Vittalamurthy said Rs. 15 lakh would be spent on the festival, and the akademi was giving Rs. 10.75 lakh. Some dramas of these directors would be staged in Belgaum, Gulbarga and Mangalore. Various other exhibitions had also been organised.

He said construction of theatres of 350-seat capacity at Manvi in Raichur district; Indi in Bijapur district; and Gadag and Athani in Belgaum district would be taken up and sites had been secured.

Efforts were on to acquire sites in Bellary, Koppal and Bidar districts. Work of Suvarna Rangamandiras at Ilakal in Bagalkot district; Belur in Hassan district; and Nagamangala in Mandya district had started.

Karnataka Nataka Academy chairman Srinivas G. Kappanna said a scheme for revival of professional theatre companies and helping people such as actors, instrumentalists and technicians engaged in the companies had been launched.

Those who have retired and have a minimum experience of 30 years could be considered for financial support.

Mr. Kappanna said that drama companies, which had a successful presence for a minimum of five years, were eligible for a subsidy of Rs. 1 lakh and those that had completed 15 years and 25 years would be considered for subsidy of Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 3 lakh, respectively.

Those that had not run shows for less than 150 days a year were not eligible for subsidy. Director, Kannada and Culture, Manu Baligar, was present.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu