Politics in play at theatre fest 11

BANGALORE: Rangashankara is back this year with their eighth theatre festival.The Rangashankara Theatre Fest 2011, will showcase six plays, three of which are new productions.A seminar, Theatre and Arts Appreciation course, cartoon exhibition, film screenings and street plays by colleges will be held from the October 15 to 23.The festival follows the theme of ‘Politics in Play’ this year. The plays staged are productions that are invited from all over the country. The performance on stage will result in seminars, outreach programs and discussion forums being held as a part of the fest.Rangashankara has hosted plays of KV Subbanna, Girish Karnad, MS Sathyu, Vijay Tendulkar, Ebrahim Alkhazi’s plays in the years before. A contemporary issue this time, is an addition to their unconventional way of presenting an event for Bangaloreans. “We chose this theme to acknowledge the issues that are surrounding us.We are a part of it and youngsters must be equipped with the knowledge to beat the issues,” said Arundhathi Nag, Creative Director, Rangashankara.The Theatre and Arts Appreciation course will be facilitated by Sadanand Menon, culture critic and scholar.A seminar on Identity: Allegiance and Alienation will feature columnist Aakar patel, sociologist Dr Chandan Gowda, author Dr Arshia Sattar and Festival Director, Prakash Belwadi.The two documentaries that will be screened are — The Dying Fields by P Sainath and Iran (Is Not the Problem) by Aaron Newman.An exhibition of political cartoons is being put up in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Cartoonists. “Experimental theatre should be given its due recognition. The plays that will be staged cannot be commercialised as a film.Probably an art film, but certainly not in a conventional way. This is where the festival becomes unique,” said Prakash Belwadi, at a press conference held on Friday.Another highlight to the Fest is Krishna Sandhana a Yakshagana taalamaddale performance where artists from all over Karnataka will assemble on stage to give an impromptu recital of a scene from Mahabharata.The debate will target issues of gender, caste and violation of agreement among the many topics.Rangashankara is celebrating its eighth anniversary this October and boasts of having staged more than 2700 plays in the past. A tribute to the late Badal Sircar, along with new productions by Ninasam, Sanket Trust and CFD will be staged. Street plays by PESIT, National College Basavangudi, JSS ATE and BMS CE will also be staged