In memoriam
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Plays mark former Andhra University Registrar K. V. Gopalaswami's birth centenary.
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Scenes from `Ranguvelisina Bommalu'
TWO SHORT plays were staged to commemorate the birth centenary of the late K. V. Gopalaswami, founder and first head of the Department of Theatre Arts, Andhra University.
The plays were organised by students, former and present, at the university's open-air theatre last Saturday.
The theatre, which sported a festive look for the occasion, came up when Gopalaswami was the Registrar and was, fittingly, named after him.
The first play, `Ranguvelisina Bommalu', scripted by noted playwright and cine writer Kasi Viswanath and directed by Battina Vikrama Goud, was a picturesque revelation of the agonising state of poverty and status of the traditional artistes of folk arts, the Burrakatha in particular.
`Kokkoroko'
It depicted the miserable plight of an artiste in the field who vehemently opposes the idea of being used as a powerful tool for election propaganda. He tries to stand his ground and keep up the ideals of a true artiste.
Veteran stage artiste T.V. Rama Rao took on the role of the old Burrakatha artiste with director Goud as his son Abhimanyu. K.V. Lakshmi, R.S. Gowri, V. S. Pushkar, A. V. Narasimham, Ch. Durga Prasad, A. Ramoji Rao and N. A. D. Paul in other roles also did well. Music by Chaitanya, make-up by Chiranjeevi, stage decor and management by A. V. Narasimham, Suya Rao, M. Rajendra Prasad, J. Venugopal, D. A. M. Naidu and V. Krishna, under the supervision of Bapu Haranath, contributed to the effect.
The second play, `Kokkoroko', had only two actors - V. S. Pushkar and A. Ram Mohan Rao - donning the roles of a yogi and `jogi'. The duo symbolised the struggle-ridden life of middle-class unemployed youth, despite their being sufficiently educated. The play left an impression of the odious thoughts that cross the minds of the youth, in their struggle to achieve some means of livelihood.
With telling effect, it reveals the society in its true colours along with the shameful scenario of ongoing processes. The backdrop constituted a simple shining tricolour flag which was symbolic enough. Both the presentations were aesthetic in their content.
A. RAMALINGA SASTRY
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