The countdown has officially begun, five days until curtains rise on the city’s most-awaited annual theatre festival — set to make an extravagant return this week with a humongous neverseen-before calendar. 7,500 shows in 36 languages, 12,00,000 viewers and two glorious decades later… namma Bengaluru’s Ranga Shankara, continues to rule over the city as the most sought-after theatre destination.
This October 10, as this renowned cultural hub begins to comemorate their 20th anniversary — the celebrations began with the unveiling of this extravaganza of 20 mustwatch plays being staged every weekend from Thursday through Sunday as a part of the theatre festival, lasting all month with performances extending beyond the main stage to smaller stages, seminars on theatre, musical evenings, the RS Walk with S Surendranath and so much more!
The Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival — sponsored by Karnataka Tourism, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Bangalore Theatre Collective (being their executive producers) — not only highlights Kannada drama but boasts productions in English, Hindi, Hindustani, Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Lepcha, Bengali and Assamese too. In this upcoming edition, audiences can expect a rich blend of old and new, modern and classical, traditional and experimental — every week till November 10.
While theatre takes the spotlight of the festival, the event is equally enriched by folk, traditional and classical art forms like kudiyattam, kattaikuthu and yakshagana alongside other events like outreach programmes and Beyond Childhood: Puppetry for Adults. While this may already seem like a lot on offer, trust us when we say we’ve only skimmed the surface on what’s in store. Now, because we believe, it’s better heard from the co-founder herself — Arundhati Nag — who is also the managing trustee and director of the space.
We sit down with her for a hearty conversation that is as colourful as the life of this ‘superstar of the stage.’ “It’s time the backstage came to the forefront because we wouldn’t be here had my team not held my hands through this journey of success and the two decade milestone we are due to celebrate this October 27, the true birthday of our beloved Ranga Shankara!” Having given the credits long-due, the iconic theatre personality walks us through the 20th edition of the theatre festival, that’s just around the corner. Excerpts from the interview:
There must be a lot of excitement revolving around achieving this 20-year milestone?
I am gushing with excitement! Yes, it’s all rolling inside me — sometimes one feels one is in a dream and sometimes it seems like only a year ago that one was running around trying to find money and people to complete tasks undone and other times it seems like the years just slipped out of our hands. It’s been a lot of blood, sweat, tears and a great learning curve. I look at it as one of the largest opportunities in my life, more so than even my marriage, becoming a mother, an actor or any other milestone in my life. In many people’s lives too, not just mine. Mine specifically, because I was, in some ways, the driving force. But wow, what a dream!
Does this edition also have a central theme, like each of the festivals that have passed?
We inaugurated the first edition of the festival, which was 45 days long, because it was not only about Bengaluru, but we wanted the world and India to know — that they are invited to take part in our new beginnings. Plus, we are physically situated in Bengaluru, a land that boasts a very rich theatre tradition of its own in Kannada. But over the years, we’ve asked ourselves: how does one curate festivals? Year after year, how do you reintroduce your festival in a more interesting way? Anybody can put five plays together and call it a festival. But Ranga Shankara’s festivals are different because there are so many ancillary programmes that we organise — from workshops to outreach programmes and discussions with different stakeholders in the theatre community. This year, we also thought: why restrict ourselves to a theme and why not open it out again and make it all about just theatre.
This is a terrible question, but we need to ask it. Is there one play that everyone should not miss?
How do I say this child is more special than the other one? Instead let me say, the festival opens with a very special production — Honnu- Mannina Aata aka Mricchakatika, a Sanskrit play which studies the subjects of society. The Far Post in Lepcha, the Assamese play Raghunath (which swept away several awards at META — Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards, this year), Atho Hidimba Kotha directed by this young artiste Titas Dutta, Taking Sides by Atul Kumar, D for Drama’s Kaumudi, Manav Kaul’s Tumhaare Baare Mein, a Tamil play — Ungala Neenga Yeppadi Paakka Virumbareenga and lastly, Urubhangam, before we close the festival with Sangeeth Manapmaan in Marathi.
We also hear that in this edition, plays will not be limited to the main stage?
How does one include the theatre community, specially those who have made the last 20 years happen — because just 20 plays, a lot of them from out of town, is not the wealth that uses the space of Ranga Shankara . So, we decided to introduce a tradition of conducting small platform performances in Ranga Shankara before the main show. We have 20 teams that have come forward. We therefore request the audience to find themselves here a little earlier than the said time to enjoy these performances happening in the foyer. Besides that, every Saturday evening, we have Mehfil. After the main show is over, at 10 in the night one can soak themselves in an hour of soulful melodies by Sangeetha Katti, Faiyaz Khan, Shadaj Godkhindi and others in the magic of candlelight at the café.
Lastly, what does theatre mean to you?
I think, from a very young age, one met the right people who were like lighthouses. These were the kind of role models one saw. So, there was more than just theatre, there was politics, an ideology and a purpose. At 16 you don’t even understand the word purpose but you can sense its importance. I am very fortunate that I took my first steps in a theatre group which had an ideology. because by the time I turned 17, I knew theatre is what I want to pursue. I don’t want to do cinema or television. And knowing what you want to do is extremely important. If you find that out, your life is sorted and it paves the way to fall in love with the right kind of person too. Theatre is the one thing that has stood by me in life — it has given me everything that I have. Name, fame and everything attached. But more importantly it gave me sanity and the capacity to digest very big tragedies or changes in life and the ability to adapt to dramatic changes. It has given me security — what many people don’t find in a lifetime. Theatre has given me my everything. So, I have unconditionally stayed in the theatre — this is my life.
INR 200 onwards. October 10 to November 10. At JP Nagar.