The Hindu : Karnataka News : The tank was their stage

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Karnataka

Karnataka

The tank was their stage

Shama Sundar

Play staged on a floating dais in Channarayapatna

Unique: Artistes of Nirantara Kalavidaru staging a play in a tank in Channaraypatna.

HASSAN: It was feat for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Niranthara Kalavidaru, a cultural troupe of Hassan district, staged a play “Mukhagalu” (faces) on a floating dais. Fifteen artistes participated in the play of whom seven did not know how to swim.

The 20 feet X 20 feet dais was put in the tank of the Chennaraypatna measuring 90 feet X 90 feet. About 150 bamboo sticks were used to build it and to prevent it from swaying in the water, 20 drums were filled with water and tied to the dais. Artistes were trained in such a way that when they move around the stage they kept their balance as the stage was floating.

The performing artists included Saravana Kumar, Kannada Vasu, Chennakeshava, Mimikri Govinda, G.R. Mohan, Shivashankar, C.S. Jyothilakshmi Myme, Mahesh Pilli, Ravindra, Gangacharan and Venkatesh. All the artists used cordless microphone and were soaked in water as the dais went down by two feet in the water.

While the main characters were positioned at the centre, other characters were standing on the edges to balance the dais. Since the tank had steps, there was no seating problem. Flood lights were used.

The play began at 11 p.m. on Wednesday and concluded at 1 a.m. on Thursday. It revolves around decentralisation and how officials take away facilities that is meant for the people. Director of the troupe Nanjunda Myme said the purpose of creating world record was fulfilled as he successfully staged the play.

The troupe had earlier staged a drama on top of a tree in Chennaraypatna to create awareness about environment protection. The drama made its entry into the Limca Book of Records.

Meenu Kumar, who had portrayed the role of Dhuryodhana for more than 25 years and Revanna Shetty, who is performing bhajan of Saturn for more than 60 years, were felicitated on the occasion.

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