The Hindu : Karnataka News : Benaka to stage two plays next month

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Benaka to stage two plays next month

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 28. Benaka, the theatre group founded by the late B.V. Karanth, will hold a drama festival here next month in his memory. According to T.S. Nagabharana, filmmaker and theatre personality, here on Monday, the festival will feature two plays, "Gokula Nirgamana" and "Akasha Butti".

Mr. Nagabharana and Jayant Kaikini, writer, said the plays would be staged at the ADA Rangamandira, JC Road, in the first and second week of next month.

They said "Gokula Nirgamana" was a dance drama scripted by Pu Ti Na and directed by the late Karanth. "We are reviving the play even though it has been staged over 150 times. In fact, we can call it a classic," they said.

According to them, the play is to be staged on October 4 and October 5. Mr. Nagabharana will be in overall charge of production.

The dance drama has often been described as Pu Ti Na's masterpiece because it is full of "rich literary constructions and every word overflows with rhythm and rhyme," Mr. Kaikini said and added that Karanth's lilting music made it even richer.

As for the other play by Mr. Kaikini, Mr. Nagabharana termed it ``realistic''. "He (Kaikini) is famous for depicting human values through his humane characters. And he has written this one at our request."

C. Basavalingaiah, an alumnus of the National School of Drama, has directed it. "The play depicts the different facets of urban life, work culture, time and space constraints, suffocated home atmosphere and so on."

Mr. Kaikini has carved out a bond between two generations and at the same time subtly conveyed the void between the two.

Mr. Basavalingaiah has adapted it to the stage and is set to give the audience a slice of Mumbai urban upper and middleclass life.

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