The theme of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2021 is ‘Staying Alive’, and it is set to take place over five days, from 27 October to 31 October, 2021. This is going to be a hybrid festival that harnesses the goodness of the physical and the digital world – take your pick or choose both!
October is the month that marks the 17th birthday of Ranga Shankara.
Four new plays are to premiere at this years Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival and rehearsals are happening in full swing.
Ranga Shankara is all set and super excited to bring a vibrant theatre festival, full of stories and art by the people, for you people.
"Staying Alive" what does it mean when we declare it as the theme of a festival of ours? It means many things. Sharing our learnings, celebrating them....no work, no audiences, less money, disproportionate greed, and through all these, some acts of amazing courage, humanity and sharing that shone through the haze. Celebrating "Staying Alive" through what we know how to do best.... sharing with our audiences, stories.... happy and sad, pensive and pondering and drawing them into our world by illuminating a truth or making them forget a worry.... for that is what gives us the utmost joy....it is the reason for our being! “Says Arundhati Nag, Managing Trustee and Artistic Advisor, Ranga Shankar
This will be a space where the theatre will celebrate life and human resilience and heal the community while dreaming together again.
Components of the Festival:
- 5 new plays will premiere at Ranga Shankara
- A digital showcase curated by Amitesh Grover.These digital presentations, created during the pandemic, reflect on the crisis-ridden times. The showcase will be followed by talks with the creators after each screening.
- Ancillary programmes at the venue which will include short pieces that will use the alternate spaces of the building, and a walk-through event to present the beautiful architecture and history of Ranga Shankara.
The plays that will be performed on the main stage are:
1. ‘Kantha mattu Kantha’ – Kannada
Written and directed by - Surendranath S
Group – Sanket, Bangalore
Duration – 90 minutes
Synopsis: Two theatre actors. Now aged. Quite aged. Equally talented but cannot shed their egos. Once upon a time they were a popular pair. For reasons best known to them, they stopped seeing each other, they stopped talking to each other. They last appeared on stage some 16 years ago. Now there is an opportunity (opportunity?) to come on stage together. They will have to forget their acrimony and come on stage. Is that possible? Will the jugal-bandi happen again?
2. ‘Lock down’ – Kannada
Written and directed by- Abhishek Iyengar
Group - WeMove Theatre, Bangalore
Duration – 50-60 minutes
Synopsis: The Kannada play titled ‘Lockdown’ is a 50–60-minute play set in urban, rural and international ecosystems that come with their own set of challenges. An anthology of 4 stories tells the importance of relationships and how they are moulded during uncertain times. A story of a daughter and a stepmother, a newly married couple, an adopted grandson and a lonesome wife; all of them find a way to connect with each other, across borders, through interests and memories. In the process finding themselves.
3. ‘Jhund’ – Hindi
Written and directed by - Chanakya Vyas
Group - Indian Ensemble
Duration – 60-70 minutes
Synopsis: Jhund is a Hindi play to be developed from two source texts: Striptease, a short play by Slawomir Mrozek (translated into Hindi by Ashok Mishra) and Todu (Crowd), a Gujarati short story by Ghanshyam Desai.
‘Striptease’ revolves around two characters who have been forced into a closed room, while they are trying to escape from an unknown and dangerous occurrence outside. As they contemplate the situation, they’re faced with two choices - either to revolt and exit the room or to accept the situation and stay inside.
The short story ‘Todu’ (Crowd) is written as a first-person narrative of a character who witnesses a crowd taking different shapes moving from one end to the other controlled by the voice of an unseen authority. The story written in an absurd style is a sharp commentary on herd mentality and the agency of an individual in a collective.
4. Kaamarupigal’ - Kannada
Adapted and directed– Ganesh Mandarthi
Group – Sanchaya
Duration – 75 minutes
Synopsis: Kaamarupigal is an abstract from Ramayana, spanning the events starting with the defacing of Shurpanakhi till the death of Jatayu. This bit of Ramayana offers an entertaining look at the dramatic events of Panchavati Prasanga. We attempt to present it in a slightly modernized and endearing fashion. With this play, we explore the boundaries of desire and the tumults of lust.
5. ‘Hunkaro’ - Marwari, Hindi, Haryanvi, Awadhi
Directed by - Mohit Takalkar
Written by - Vijaydan Detha, Chirag Khandelwal, Arvind Charan
Group - Ujaagar Dramatics Association
Duration – 85 minutes
Synopsis: ‘Hunkaro', literally means a verbal affirmation. The piece is replete with songs which come from the centennials old Manganiyar tradition but avoids musical instruments, once again underlining the spoken word. World renowned Manganiyar musician Hakeem Khan Saab is helming the musical front of this performance.
An intriguing weave of 3 stories talk about what strength, hope can instil and how life without hope is impossible to sustain. Performed by 6 trained actors, the piece mainly in Marwari and dialects of Hindi, Punjabi runs for 85 mins
The ticket prices for the main frame plays (‘Kantha mattu Kantha', 'Lockdown', 'Jhund', 'Kaamarupigal' and 'Hunkaro') are all for rupees 200/- each.
All 5 of these above-mentioned main frame plays will happen every evening at 7pm. (The timings are subject to change, based on government curfew regulations.)
Ancillary events-
Along with these plays, our signature ancillary events will happen in different spaces at the venue. Short ticketed performances for a small group of people at a time will make the experience intimate and interesting. The physical space will offer a multi-sensory experience, with installations, short-plays, music, walks, food at Anju’s Cafe and many more interactive events.
The ancillary presentations will also be ticketed and priced at 100/- rupees each.
These performances will be kept intimate, limited to a small audience of around 10 to 20 people per performance.
We celebrate the collective spirit of theatre and we hope you’ll celebrate ‘Staying Alive’ with us – physically and digitally!
Venue: Ranga Shankara 36/2, 8th Cross Rd, R K Colony, 2nd Phase, J. P. Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560078
Phone: 080 2649 3982
Date: Oct 27th – 31st, 2021
Timing: 7 PM for the plays on the main stage.
Tickets will available on www.bookmyshow.com and at Ranga Shankara box office. The play tickets are priced at Rs. 200/- and the ancillary shows at Rs. 100/-
Email Ranga Shankara at - programming@rangashankara.in
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