Nataka Bengaluru, an annual theatre festival started by theatre personalities Shashidar Bharighat, K.V. Nagaraj Murthy, V.M. Nagesh, Ganesh Shenoy, and B.V. Rajaram in 2008, is running its 15th edition of the festival this year. The festival starts in December every year and concludes in January the following year with new productions by theatre troupes from across Bengaluru.
As the festival is coming to a close this month, Antharanga Theatre, started by senior theatre person Uncle Shyam 43 years ago, will be presenting its new production Kaayuva Kaayaka on January 4, at 7 p.m., in Ravindra Kalakshetra.
Touch of humour
Written by renowned poet and author H. Dundiraj, the play is directed by Archana Shyam. The play is a portrayal of man’s quest, dilemmas, conflicts and happiness which are shown in a very uncluttered and yet intricate manner. The play, like most of Dundiraj‘s work, has his stamp, with humour and wit.
Speaking to The Hindu, Archana Shyam, the director of the play, said that the play is based on the lives of elderly people who long for love and affection “This play talks about how older people live in the world on millennials and Gen-Zs who are busy, with their long screen time with laptops and mobile phones. The play looks at the lives of a couple who recall their childhood, longing for the same love and affection from their family, and how the current generation or their own children treat them.“
Archana says that it was challenging to direct Dundiraj‘s writing. “It was quite challenging to direct this play for me. Usually, playwrights have a visual and it gives us a path or direction to work on, but with this script, it was hard. However, that was also an advantage for me to look for my own path and direct the play. Dundiraj also gave me a lot of freedom to rework the script based on the needs of the play.”
Learning process
She said she learnt a lot directing the play. “I explored and learnt a lot on hallucination, Alzheimer’s, and a lot of other illnesses that come with old age. The play also gave me new opportunities, designwise, as the entire script is based on what is happening in the protagonist’s mind and is surreal. In a realistic script, one does not get the opportunity to break boundaries as a director, but with this script, I had all the freedom to break boundaries,” Archana added.
Tickets for the show are available on BookMyShow and at the Ravindra Kalakshetra box-office.
