Theatre Festival 2008 at Ranga Shankara

Its glad for me to start this blog with an entry about Rangashankara.

Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival ‘08 starts on 31st of October and ends on 9th of November. Ten Days of Theatre extravaganza features Four top-line plays from across the country and two commissioned plays. Carrying two shows everyday 11.00 am (on 31 Oct)/2.00 PM (1 & 2 Nov; 7-9 Nov) and 7.30 PM the Fest also accompanies Second Edition of the theatre & Arts Appreciation Course 2008 organized this year by the culture critic Sadanand Menon. This time Rangashankara Theatre Festival will pay tributes to 'Company Theatre' which dominated the Indian Stage in the early part of the 20th Century. In addition to all these there are Film screenings, Featured exhibitions and evening Solo performances.

The Commissioned plays are Jagajyoti Basaveshwara and Sadarame and the festival opens with Theatre and Television Associates (New Delhi) performing Amal Allana’s “Nati Binodini” (in Hindi), noted for its use of five female actors to represent the protagonist Binodini. Theatre Academy, Pune will present Satish Alekar’s “Begum Barve,” while Bharat Natya Samshodhan Mandir’s production “Katiaar Kaaljaat Ghusli” musically narrates the rivalry between two classical music gharanas. Surabhi Company from Andhra Pradesh stages mythological, “Maya Bazaar” known for its spectacular special effects on stage including the descent of Narada on Earth and flying ladoos that land in the mouth of the hungry Ghatodgaja! The Journey of Kannada Sangeet Natak through its Music will narrate the history of 70 years of the Kannada theatre through its music. Conceptualised and directed by Y.K. Muddukrishna, the musical will feature singers from the Company tradition with music by the veteran R. Paramasivaiah.

Ranga Shankara is exhibiting a visual narrative of the Golden Period of Indian Theatre with rare archival photographs of Company Nataka in Karnataka, Sangeet Natak in Maharashtra, Parsi Theatre and Bengal Theatre.

Tickets: At Ranga Shankara and on www.bookmyshow.com

*Source of information Ranga Shankara website