Tuesday, November 8, 2005

"A man in dark times" at Rangashankara


RangShankara is a place for theatre in bangalore.

If you've ever heard of Prithvi theatre in Mumbai then I think Rangshankara is "Prithvi Theatre of Bangalore". Not only because it has two big names (Girish Karnad and Arundhati Naag) associated with it, but mainly for their commitment to theatre. It just completed its first year and has already earned a lot of respect among the theatre enthusiasts in bangalore.

Well, this blog isnt really about Rangshankara, but its about my maiden performace there.
It is one of the major highlights of my career in theatre. I never thought that, my first ever play (back in 2001, named "Limit") will go into the history of biggest marathi theatre competition, Purushottam Karandak. While that still remains at the top of my list of highlights, I think this one is just after that. For various reasons, First, This was a professional play in its a true sense. I started theatre with competitions in college, continued as a hobby after college and did quite a few plays after that. They were professional plays because they were done professionally (by us) and people paid money to see them. But, they were all marathi and there is no repeat audience for marathi theatre in bangalore yet, so we could do maximum 2 shows. This one was different as it was managed in a true professional sense. Second, It was an english play. To me, having spent about 4 years in marathi theatre, this was new and very exciting, and third, it was the Rangshankara.

Rangshankara is not one of those auditoriums where plays can be staged, but it is a stage where ONLY plays are staged. It has that stadium feel to it where audience is sitting around you, unlike the typical auditorium. It is indeed a state of the arts facility with great arrangements for lights, back stage, green rooms.

But what really is amazing about that place is the acoustics. On-stage performers are not given any microphones. We thought it will be an added responsibility on us, to make sure every word is heard, but after now having done a play there, I can guarentee you that, it is in fact much easier as you dont have to worry about your voice. I was the one who had the first lines in the play and was the one responsible for setting the sound levels for that show, when I spoke my lines "Hello, Jambhekar here, Yes! the Vice Chancellor", The feedback of that was so clear and loud that, it gave me a kick really. Thats what an actor needs I think. I enjoyed that performance immensely.

I am looking forward to performing more there!!

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