The Hindu : Front Page : Another attempt to end Rangayana row

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Another attempt to end Rangayana row

Staff Correspondent

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

For a solution: Writers and theatre personalities at a meeting with B. Jayashree in Mysore on Wednesday.

MYSORE: Upset by the falling public image of the State-run theatre repertory, Rangayana, writers and theatre personalities are trying their best to sort out “differences” between the artistes and director of Rangayana B. Jayashree.

A group of writers and theatre personalities, comprising Na. Rathna, Lingadevaru Halemane, Srinivas G. Kappanna, Nagachandra, Ramesh, Umesh, Muddukrishna, Shashidhar Bharighat, and Rajashekar Kadamba held a meeting with Ms. Jayashree on Wednesday to come to an understanding and end the problem..

According to sources in Rangayana, the problem began when Ms. Jayashree took some administrative decisions to streamline the functioning of the repertory. However, the artistes allegedly refused to cooperate. Ms. Jayashree’s plea to the artistes regarding revival of old plays also met with a lukewarm response.

Meanwhile, the renovation of the director’s chamber to meet “basic requirements” was blown out of proportion by some vested interests in Rangayana. Ms. Jayashree clarified the reasons for the renovation of her chamber and why she preferred staying in a rented house instead of staying in government quarters.

The discontent among the artistes came to the fore during the B.V. Karanth Rangotsava. A replica of poet Thiruvalluvar brought by the Department of Kannada and Culture for their tableau in the Dasara procession was kept on the Rangayana premises. However, owing to protests by the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, the replica was sent back to Bangalore. Ms. Jayashree accused the artistes of conspiring against her and attempted to serve a notice.

The issue then took a different turn with the artistes accusing Ms. Jayashree of humiliating them.

A member of the group, who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, observed that Ms. Jayashree was not the first director to face problems with the Rangayana artistes. A writer, who was a part of the group, said that the aim was to boost the sagging image of Rangayana as no one would want to become the director in case Ms. Jayashree resigned in a huff.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page