Ranga Shankara’s annual theatre festival is back

This year's theme is 'Just' Theatre and will feature plays that will make audience think

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Ranga Shankara is back with its much-awaited annual theatre festival for 2022. After showcasing plays from across the country in a variety of theme-based festivals over the last 18 years, from Shakespeare to Karnad, political to company theatre, from metros to not the-metros, this year Ranga Shankara has decided to zero in on plays that shed light on this year’s theme Just Theatre.

“That fragile fantastic thing we fondly call theatre has always seemed to us to be the last place on earth where our stories can be truthfully and boldly told. And when that happens, just theatre transforms to "Just Theatre",” says Arundhati Nag, artiste and artistic advisor.

Theatre is judged by society more stringently when compared to other arts because of its immediate contact with the public and its greater power to convince. This year’s festival explores various connotations and meanings of the word "Just", as we have understood it and are re-understanding it today.

“The theme this year is Just Theatre. It asks the audience to think, this festival is not about just passive consumption of whatever is thrown at you- reminding our audiences, society, and ourselves that the Just choice is yours to make. Go ahead…say it!” she added.

This year, they open the festival on Kannada Rajyotsava with Idhu Keluva Samaya – It’s Time to Listen, curated by Mamta Sagar & Prathibha Nandakumarboth eminent Kannada poets, followed by a Ranga Shankara Workshop Showcase and close the day's celebrations with the play Dakla Katha Devi Kavya by Jangama Collective, a play that delves into the populist narrative of the puranas and mythology that takes us on a journey of discovery.

Other plays featured at the festival are Dakla Katha Devi Kavya by Jangama Collective, There is Something in The Water by Akvarious Productions, Taking Sides by The Company Theatre, Idakini Kathaiaratham by Manalmagudi Theatre Land, 1984 by Unicorn Actors’ Studio and Apne Ghar Jaisa by Ranga Shankara.

Apart from these plays, they also have other unique offerings – Other Voices: Parables for the Present - An intimate reading by Ratna Patakh Shah, where texts of the suppressed will be explored and presented with a new voice for the audience to draw inferences to the times we live in. Where: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar When: Nov 1-6, 4 pm and 7:30 pm Tickets: bookmyshow.com