Theatre in Karnataka throughout the years
By Divija Khater and Soumya Varier
When the renaissance in Kannada theatre occurred in the 1970s, there were many original scripts, new directors and performers who wanted to create a new identity with the city. Alongside, there was a growth in English theatre and its audiences.
Today, folks are drawn to watching regional plays, not only as a source of entertainment but also to regain their sense of identity with their languages and the city.
Lekha Naidu, a theatre professional speaks of the earlier times of regional theatre along and her colleague, Sidhaartha Maadhyamika, a fourth generation theatre artist.
Maadhyamika looks back in time to when there were travelling actors and troupes in North Karnataka who performed scripts that spoke of Nationalism and Swarajya. Whereas, in South Karnataka, Yakshagana (folk dance drama) was popular, and troupes performed stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata.
“They later performed to spread awareness about AIDS and corruption. After a few years, elements of it were imitated and people remade it as a new way of storytelling, that is, by having a three-act play,” said Maadhyamika.
Naidu said the reason for alteration was because of the influence of colonialism and Western literature.
“This kind of influence made people lose interest in watching a 15-hour long performance. So the scripts had to be shortened immensely,” she said.
In the 80s, plays were developed in English language. Bangalore Little Theatre, which is one of the oldest theatre group was the centre for writing original plays in English. Apart from the language, BLT aims to retain Indian identity in these plays. In 1963, they produced a Sanskrit play Mricchakatika in English. In this way, BLT had strong links to regional theatre.
BLT’s life member Vijay Padaki, who has been active since 1960, said that although English Theatre will flourish in India, it will have its own negatives.
Having written 40 original plays, he says that, “it is possible to remain faithful to the Indian condition only if we consider it while writing a play in the English language. The problem is, when we’re trying to script plays, we think of a Western audience in mind, and that causes a gap with our social set up.”
When it comes to the audience, Lekha Naidu said they haven’t changed in Bengaluru whereas places like Udupi, Dharwad and Mysore have an informed audience.
“In Rangayana (Government drama school in Mysore) people have trained themselves to watch plays in a critical way, so they can receive it well,” said Maadhyamika. “The audience in Bengaluru laugh all the time, but in the these places, people watch it in a critical way.”
Medha,a Mount Carmel College student, watches both English and Kannada plays. She said she likes both, but her affinity is more towards Kannada plays as it brings her closer to home.
“I was brought up in a Kannada speaking neighbourhood,” she said. “I don’t live there anymore, but by watching regional plays, I feel closer to them. I understand the characters well as I watch it.”
Rangashankara, which is one of the well known theatres in Bengaluru, promotes theatre in all languages. The admin of the theatre said that to market their plays, they send posters to people in their mailing list, put up the same in crowded places and on their social media accounts to reach more people.
The admin also said they have equal number of shows in both Kannada and English languages.
Padaki said English plays are marketed better than Kannada plays.
“Although a small minority in the population, English theatre is a most influential market segment in society. How else is it possible to have corporate support for hall rents of nearly a lakh per day, the outlay in lakhs on print and publicity, the tonnage in stage material and equipment, and so on, all for three to four shows. In contrast, a Kannada production that reaches much larger numbers over very many more shows cannot dream of one fraction of such support?” he quips.
Naidu said English and regional plays are received equally.
“In Bengaluru, regional plays are showcased more than English plays every week,” she said. “It’s an assumption to think of English plays being received better, because we’ve colonised our minds.”
