From small plays that no one has heard of to grand productions that can give English theatre a run for its money - the Kannada theatre scene in Bangalore is thriving and how. While we might get to read more about the upcoming English theatre movement in the city, some of the biggest literary personalities of Karnataka have earned their name through theatre. As it stands today, a belief that is supported by most, theatre in the state has improved exponentially - with better actors, writers, and possibly better budgets, making their way into Kannada theatre.
There's no doubt that the theatre movement in Bangalore is very active. Recently, I calculated the number of productions that are being staged in the city. I checked various websites and ticketing portals and discovered that over 35 productions were staged across the city at various venues in a span of 10 days, whereas Mumbai had only 10 and Hyderabad had none. And, 80% of that, which would be around 27 plays out of 35 were in Kannada. Going by that, I can say safely that Kannada theatre definitely is most active in India and over the years, it has only got better. There are a lot of fresh productions and original work happening and the trend is only growing. If you look at the production works of plays like Gandhi Banda and Anabhigna Shakuntala, you will realise that we have come a long way. These productions can match the standards of any world class theatre. In the present day, amateur theatre too has taken off. So, if you have 100 productions, at least 50 of them will be by newcomers. The scenario wasn't the same when I started. I had to go through a drama company, but now there are various platforms and opportunities available.
- PD Sathish Chandra, theatre activist, actor and director, KH Kala Soudha
If you look at production design, especially when it comes to stage lights, I think Kannada theatre, when compared to the rest of the world, is at least 25 years behind. When it comes to technicalities and attitude, we are still in the 70s and 80s, an era when Kannada theatre was at its peak. We haven't been able to come out of that. In the name of experimentation, we are just doing gimmicks and we think we are doing good work, but we are not. However, at the same time, I would say that there is a lot of young talent coming into the field and Kannada theatre is thriving. All these years, our experiments on stage were more biased towards culture, the state and our language. And these restrictions still prevail because we still have some seniors directors and artistes who refuse to move on with time. But the younger generations are willing to understand and adapt themselves to the new ways, bringing in newer audiences and are pushing the boundaries. And that is why I am still part of the Kannada theatre industry. Sadly there is a lot of a politics involved when it comes to grants and even booking of venues - even here, the established artistes get priority of young talent. That is one thing I would like to see different.
- Vinay Chandra, light designer
I had started to feel that theatre was getting lost somewhere. But I was wrong. There was a time when Kannada theatre was really popular, but then with the advent of new media, television and movies, theatre had taken a back seat. And now, the same audience is coming back to watch theatre again. I realised this when we staged our latest production, Misunderstanding, recently and all the shows were sold out. What's interesting to observe is that artistes are experimenting openly and a lot of youngsters are participating quite actively. We have been following a certain pattern for years, but now we are breaking away from the traditional methods. For instance, when we worked on Pinocchio, a play for children, we tried a whole new approach and our body language and movements helped us connect better with the kids. I'm happy that we have various festivals that encourage Kannada theatre as well. All the senior artistes are giving guidelines and we are moving forward with that.
- Sanchari Vijay, actor
Kannada theatre has indeed come a long way and it reflects in the work that is going on around us. There has also been an increase in the number of auditoriums that are staging Kannada plays. Earlier, they were all centred around South bangalore and we had only Ravindra Kalakshetra and Ranga Shankara. But now, there is Jagriti, KH Kala Soudha, and quite a few other venues. What we can witness is that newer concept and ways of narrating stories are being tried out. We have always had wonderful writers, but the present generation is taking it to the next level. The future of Kannada theatre looks bright and we have seen newer artistes and audiences associating themselves with the language. The scripts and stories are original and reflect realities. All these years, Kannada theatre has been very orthodox and came with a lot of boundaries and restrictions, and we had to work within them. But now, be it in writing or representing, it has become bolder and realistic.
- Chandan Shankar, writer
shilpa.bansal@dnaindia.net
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