The annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival returns for 21st edition

Over the last 20 years, Ranga Shankara has showcased works ranging from William Shakespeare to Girish Karnad, political plays to company theatre, originals and adaptations too. This October, the cultural platform returns with its annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival, welcoming a plethora of theatre in varied styles, forms and languages for the 21st year! Usually centered around a particular theme, the festival offers theatre communities an opportunity to explore their capacities within that framework, while audiences enjoy a rich variety of plays — all tied by a common thread yet vastly different in narrative, interpretation and presentation.

"Ranga Shankara completes 21 years in the service of theatre in Bengaluru and India! This is what we promised to do and this and more is what we have delivered! What more can one ask for! We look forward to the wonderfully alive audiences of our city watching the five different plays we have carefully curated and having invigorating, intellectual conversations with each other. Theatre as a trigger to elevate the quality of interactions with the self and society,” shares founder trustee and artistic advisor, Arundhati Nag.

The festival will take place over five days across two weekends, staging five plays never before seen in the city! The list includes Kavan an Ambedkarite Opera, Something Like Truth, Aakhirkaar, Naam Mein Ka Rakhwo Hai? and Kattala Neralu. Ahead of the festival, we speak to four of the five theatre directors showcasing at the festival on what we expect from their productions. From October 24 to November 1. At Ranga Shankara.

Directed by Abhishek Majumdar, this Hindi play is a collaborative work of Yalgaar Sanskrutik Manch, Mumbai and Nalanda Arts Studio, Bengaluru. It is also supported by NYUAD (New York University Abu Dhabi) Arts and Humanities and co-commissioned by The Arts Center at NYUAD.

“The concept by Sudesh Jadav looks at caste, discrimination and empowerment in our country through opera, comedy, shayari, electronic and rock music, rap and satire while also featuring films and puppetry. The plot follows a person who is facing discrimination but is not embracing BR Ambedkar’s values. We witness the making of an Ambedkarite,” Abhishek reveals.

The play encapsulates the rapidly changing India we see around ourselves, a country with mounting ambition, full of contradictions. Where do we go when the boundaries — between right and wrong, sacred and profane, personal and universal — are blurred? In this environment, young Bejul and those around him navigate their dreams, desires and dilemmas, while also negotiating the inherent inequality of India’s caste system. ₹300. October 24, 7.30 pm.

Inspired by stories from the book Sum by David Eagleman, this work of New Delhi’s The Tadpole Repertory is written and directed by Neel Chaudhuri. “American neuro-scientist, David, in his book, explores different imaginations on what the afterlife could be. We decided to use some of the propositions and provocations in Sum and build a world that contains within it, these several imaginations of the afterlife,” shares Neel.

Aakhirkaar follows seven people into the afterlife: a place that is reality and dream; the past, present and future. They were something somewhere once. But what must they do, now that they are here? Some work to close their ledgers and some to open new doors. Some long to be reunited and some forgotten. Some will behold an unfathomable vastness and some will crave to be simple and small. As they move among lovers, strangers, ghosts and gods, they look at their own lives and choices in aggreg ate to ask: what is the sum of all its parts? ₹300. October 26, 7.30 pm.

This play by Jubilee Theatre Foundation, Mumbai is written by Niketa Saraf and Saurabh Nayyar and directed by Saurabh Nayyar. “Before creating this play, the only thought in my mind was respect for women’s individuality and their choices. It is not just the story of four women — it represents four different perspectives: about marriage, about personal choices, about their thoughts and about their freedom. The production features a fictional dialect that has been created to sound like a folk language, but in reality, it is the dialect spoken in that imaginary village because we didn’t want to confine the play to any one particular village. The audience will experience songs, riddles and satirical commentary on contemporary issues,” elucidates Saurabh.

In a fictional village, a unique tradition unfolds every full moon night — a swayamvar where women choose their ideal sushil ladka. The village’s eldest woman, Somavanti, presents a riddle and whoever solves it gets the chance to tell her tale. But there’s a condition, the story must be a lie. The most convincing falsehood wins. As the night unfolds, we realise that life itself is a web of riddles and stories. But beyond all the illusions, the one thing that truly touches us is love. ₹300. October 31,7.30 pm.

Bangalore Theatre Collective's Kattala Neralu is an intimate and psychologically charged story of two people meeting after many years. On the surface, it appears simple — a room, a conversation — but beneath lies a complex web of memory, regret, longing and unresolved tensions. This Kannada play is translated from David Harrower’s Blackbird and directed by Venkatesh Prasad. Fifteen years have passed since they last met! Now, in a single room, what surfaces is far more than memory, carried in silence, the ache of betrayal, the weight of anger and abandonment.

"The play examines how past events continue to shape the present and how hidden truths linger beneath the surface of ordinary interactions. The set evokes a stark, dingy postmortem room. Its clinical atmosphere mirrors the characters’ tense interactions and heightens the sense of scrutiny and confrontation. In Kattale Neralu, every glance trembles with the past, and every word threatens to reopen wounds that time has never healed. What does it mean to confront the past and can we ever leave it behind? ₹250. November 1.

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