Wednesday, December 30, 2009

‘Bahuroopi’ to be a low-key affair this time

The Hindu-Karnataka-Mysore Dt.29-12-2009, By Muralidhara Khajane

Old plays like ‘Gandhi vs. Gandhi’ to be staged again


This is the second time that the festival may be held without a permanent director for Rangayana

The festival to be held in February or March will be the eighth such festival




Rangayana has to its credit seven national-level theatre festivals.

Mysore: “Bahuroopi”, the theatre festival being conducted by the State-run-theatre repertory Nataka Karnataka Rangayana from the past seven years in Mysore will be held either in February or in March 2010, according to sources in the Department of Kannada and Culture.

Significantly for the second time the festival is being conducted in the absence of permanent director. “Bahuroopi-2008” was held after the former director of Rangayana Chidambara Rao Jambe demitting office and now “Bahuroopi” will be conducted after B. Jayashree resigned from the post of the director.

The sources said that it was tentatively decided to organise “Bahuroopi” both in Mysore and Dharwad. Popular theatre groups from across the country will stage plays on the occasion.

However, this year’s “Bahuroopi” will be a low-key affair this time in the wake of havoc caused by floods in north Karnataka.

The sources add that the theatre lovers will not be disappointed as good quality plays to be staged. It is yet to be decided whether the theatre festival should be a three-day or a five-day affair.

Rangayana has been organising “National Theatre Festival” for the past few years. It is one of the major theatre festivals in the country. Artistes, writers and theatre personalities from different parts of the country will participate in the festival.

Each theatre festival has a specific theme based on which the plays to be staged are selected. “Akka”, the first National Theatre Festival organised by Rangayana witnessed the staging of plays which focussed on the problems being faced by women.

The plays staged during the second festival focussed on the problems of the downtrodden and the exploited. The plays in a way advocated equality of all people in society and stressed on the need to create equal educational, economic and social opportunities for all sections of society. The third festival focused on the problems children face in our society and the state of children’s theatre in our country.

The fourth festival focused on the impact of liberalisation on indigenous culture and the fifth dwelt on the agrarian crisis and the phenomenon of farmers’ suicide.

In the sixth festival, Rangayana focused on the tribal culture, which is facing threat because of the ‘post-liberal’ economy. Ironically, the seventh festival that was organised by Rangayana had “Freedom” as its theme. According to sources, it is yet to be decided as to what the theme of this year’s “Bahuroopi” should be. Though it will be a low-key affair it is unlikely to be cancelled as it is thought that such a move might set a bad precedent.

However, this year’s “Bahuroopi” will be a pure theatre experience for the people as other programmes such as handicrafts mela, book exhibition, film festival, sculpture workshop, seminars and symposiums have not been planned.

It is to be noted that all these were a part of the theatre festivals held in the previous years.

The sources added that the Rangayana artistes had something significant to offer during this year’s “Bahuroopi” and every care will be taken to safeguard the image of the festival.

Meanwhile, several plays that were staged earlier will be staged yet again.

The plays that are likely to be staged yet again include “Gandhi vs. Gandhi”, “Gunamukha”, “Krishne Gowdara Aane” and “Pugalendi Prahasana”.

The Department of Kannada and Culture has requested a noted theatre personality to conduct a workshop at Rangayana.

The workshop is expected to begin shortly.

According to the sources, it is likely that a popular theatre personality from some other part of the country will be given the responsibility of directing a new play.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/29/stories/2009122956870300.htm