Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival: Theatre Real
The Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival focuses on the theme, Theatre Real, in its 14th edition. So this year, the festival will feature plays that are based on real life incidents. “Theatre is said to hold a mirror to nature. It imitates life. Theatre does more than just document, it questions, re-narrates and re-visits incidents in a contemporary setting, thus bringing another dimension to the incident,” says S Surendranath, the artistic director of Ranga Shankara.
Plays from all over the country are being featured in the festival. For instance, Gajab Kahani, a Hindi play from Pune, is based on an elephant’s journey from Lisbon to Vienna in 1551. Outcaste, from Patna, is the
autobiography of author Sharan-kumar Limbale. Bloody Bombay is a black comedy about the lives of junior artistes in the movie industry, and Nomads of Water is about the Chennai floods.
Apart from the plays, they are also hosting a Theatre and Art Appreciation Course with names such as Sadanand Menon, Rajiv Menon, Atul Dodiya and Bahauddin Dagar. There will also be a Directors’ Round Table Discussion featuring directors such as Quasar Thakore Padamsee, Anurupa Roy, Mangala Rao and more.
October 28 - November 4. At JP Nagar. Tickets (Rs. 200 for each play)
on bookmyshow.com
The Flame
The theatre group Ventures stages the play, The Flame. The piece, by director Susanto Banerjee, is based on Somerset Maugham’s play, The Sacred Flame (1928). The cast includes Bidisha Ganguly, Bejoy Balagopal and Mohua Sengupta. The plot revolves around Mrinmoy, who owing to an accident soon after his marriage is confined to a wheelchair. The drama turns into a mystery as a horrifying discovery is made during the course of the play.
Susanto says he chose the play because relationships and their dynamics interest him, “This story takes the chemistry of intimate relationships to a different level altogether and unveils it through a mystery. It is extremely well written, grips the audience and involves them easily but intensely.”
Till October 29, 8 pm and 3 pm. At Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield. Tickets (Rs. 400) on
bookmyshow.com
Salaam, Noni Appa
Twinkle Khanna’s novel, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, won many accolades and hearts last year with its feminist tales. One of the stories, Salaam, Noni Appa, is now being adapted into a play by director Lilette
Dubey. The cast includes Darshan Jariwala, Jayati Bhatia, Meher Dar and Rishi Khurana. Lilette says the reason she chose The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad is purely because she loves the book. “Salaam, Noni Appa is written in prose form, which is what made it all the more interesting. I fell in love with the story after having read it and that is when I decided to ask Twinkle if we could do a play around it. It has a special place in my heart and I am super excited that Bengaluru is the first city where it is going to be presented.”
Tonight, 7 pm. At Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram. Tickets (`826 upwards) on insider.in
anagha@newindianexpress.com @anaghzzz