Theatre alive! Bengaluru's Ranga Shankara will open its auditorium for plays from January 8

This piece of news will definitely bring cheer to not just the theatre community in Bengaluru but also to theatre-loving audience. The hub of theatre and live performances, Ranga Shankara (RS) is all set to open its auditorium doors for performances from January 8, this weekend onwards.

After being closed for nearly nine months, the RS auditorium opens with Spandana's highly-acclaimed play Karimayi. "Ranga Shankara reopens on Friday! This is a huge moment in our lives! Theatre Alive after nine months. Come back, people! Come and fill our karmabhoomi, our holy space, our work space, our healing space with your presence and we will shower you with our art!" says Arundhati Nag, the founder.

Karimayi is one of Kannada theatre's longest-running plays, directed by veteran artiste B Jayashree.

The play is a musical, with music scored by Dr Chandrashekhar Kambara. The live music and singing is led by Jayashree. The play will begin at 7:30 pm, as per the theatre's usual timing, however, occupancy will be only 50% in line with the social distancing norms. Prior to the show, the RS foyer performance will take place, and the popular Kannada theatre group Kalagangotri will present songs for an hour, beginning at 5:30 pm.

After Karimayi, Pampa Bharatha by Samudaya will be staged on Saturday, followed by Akshayambara by Dramanon on Sunday.

The venue will go back to its routine of staging a show a day, and four shows on weekends. It's also reported that most of the local theatre groups have booked the space. Sanket's Iti Ninna Amrita with Arundhati Nag and Srinivasa Prabhu will be staged in January. A new play by former director of Ranga Shankara, S Surendranath aka Suri will premiere in February, while Naseerudding Shah's Motley will come back with Ismat Apa Ke Naam sometime later this year.