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For years, conversations revolving astir Indian theatre focussed connected actors, directors, and performances. Chiguru X Kusumaale, an upcoming theatre festival successful Bengaluru, wants audiences to acquisition the writer instead. Launching this week astatine the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts (PCPA) successful Bengaluru, the festival is simply a celebration of caller Kannada playwriting, stringing unneurotic caller scripts, unrecorded productions, seminars, and truthful overmuch more.
Organised by Bhasha Centre, the festival volition instrumentality spot from June 6 to 14 and showcase 9 archetypal plays that person been honed and developed done the Girish Karnad Fellowship for Kannada Playwriting. “It is simply a solemnisation of 9 caller voices connected the Kannada theatre stage,” says Vivek Madan of Bhasha Centre.
He added the lawsuit was going to beryllium a “space for radical to travel unneurotic to perceive stories and ticker them unfold, and prosecute successful meaningful conversations, workshops and seminars astir the finer aspects of making theatre.”
Vivek Madan
Unlike astir accepted theatre festivals that absorption connected finished productions, this 1 emphasises connected the penning process. Created arsenic a tribute to legendary playwright and histrion Girish Karnad, the fellowship was created to code a “lack of structured developmental spaces for regional-language playwrights”, accidental the organisers.
Irawati Karnik, a facilitator successful the programme spoke astir the long-drawn retired process it took to get these scripts to wherever they are. She talks astir however important it was to assistance the playwrights get astatine their ain originative solutions, which was acold much challenging. The process was besides filled with a batch of reworking and refining of content. She says, “Good plays are not written, they’re rewritten.”
LBW play successful rehearsal
Kannada-specific focus
For Madan, the Kannada-specific absorption was their superior intention. “There is simply a request for spaces that radical tin assertion arsenic their own,” helium said, explaining that language-specific creator spaces let writers to pat into their ain lived realities and taste contexts.
Five plays volition beryllium staged arsenic full-scale productions, portion 4 volition beryllium presented arsenic rehearsed readings. Madan stressed that the favoritism was logical alternatively than artistic.”You don’t person to ticker a play successful bid to beryllium immersed successful theatre.”
L.B.W. by Shrunga BV is simply a coming-of-age communicative astir friendship, cricket, and aspirations, acceptable successful Bengaluru successful 1996, portion Ghaati! by Sumadhura Rao is simply a young woman’s hunt for autonomy wrong household and governmental structures successful coastal Karnataka.
Similarly, Angaara by Usha Kattemane examines identity, ritual oppression, solidarity, and emotion successful Tulunadu, and Saragu by Maruthesha Kasapura is simply a communicative of religion, politics, caste, and powerfulness rooted successful colony life. Banna by Bhimanna Hattikuni explores caste, performance, and creator absorption successful a village.
Despite their differences, Madan believes the plays stock a communal grounding successful lived experiences. “The stories are already there,” helium says. “They conscionable request to beryllium unearthed.”
Beyond performances, the festival volition besides diagnostic workshops connected fundraising, arts management, feminism, authorities successful show and more, reflecting the organiser’s tendency to physique a much sustainable ecosystem for theatre.
At Prestige Centre for Performing Arts (PCPA), Konanakunte, from June 6-14, 11am onwards. Tickets are priced astatine ₹250, for details telephone 99001 51383
