This weekend (10/11 June) I watched two plays at Ranga Shankara. sattavara neraLu (lit. shadow of the dead) and hayavadana (lit. horse face). Both these plays are considered to the best plays directed by late B V Karantha, a much acclaimed director who has directed over a 100 plays in indian languages (kannada,english,telugu, malayalam,punjabi, urdu,sanskrit) with more than half of them in his mother tongue - kannada.
I had been waiting to watch "sattavara neraLu" for a long time because, I'd heard the songs of the play on a CD and I liked the way in which the "padagaLu"(devotional songs) of 16th century poet-saint Purandara Dasa were rendered.
sattavara neraLu is a political drama written by GB Joshi and talks about the power plays in religious institutions.
hayavadana is written by gnanapeeth award winner Girish Karnad. hayanvadana is based on an 11th century Indian folkstory and Thomas Mann's The Transposed Heads. Both the plays were by "benaka" troupe found by BV Karantha.
Celebrated kannada film director nagabharana was the star attraction on both days with his powerful play-acting and stellar stage presence. This is where I should have been going into reviewing the plays. But, I lack the vocabulary ;). I'll simply say that I liked the plays and play-acting very much and would like to do so often in the future.
I have been a regular to Ranga shankara in the last few months by clocking an average of one play per month. I must admit that watching plays is much more entertaining and fulfulling than watching movies. Rangashankara has put in a lot of effort into making the place very organized and professional.
I happened to meet quite a few friends from school,PU and college on the same day, which was a very pleasant experience :)
© 2003-2011 Pradeep Gowda