The Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan and Ranga Shankara are presenting a dance-theatre performance by the Ben J. Riepe Kompanie from Düsseldorf, Germany.

Event: Love | Death | Devil – The Piece

A Dance-Theatre Performance by the Ben J. Riepe Kompanie

Date: November 29, 2009

Time: 7.30 p.m.

Venue: Ranga Shankara

Age limit: 18 years and above

Tickets: Rs. 200 available at Ranga Shankara, www.indianstage.in and the Goethe-Institut

More information at the Bhavan: 25205305/6/7/8 or on our website: www.goethe.de/bangalore

The Düsseldorf-based choreographer Ben J. Riepe’s latest work is based on the five-part performance series Practise seeing beauty – Love, Death and the Devil that he created with his company in 2008.

This production starts off where the performance series with its different formats (installation, stage pieces, outdoor-performance) new techniques and means of artistic expression left off. The production is characterised by a synthesis of precise choreographic management of time, movement, space and context on the one hand, and the individual improvisational creativity of all involved artists on the other. And by a delight in powerful images and baroque costumes.

Aesthetic and macabre scenarios emerge from within the depths of the play creating that the audience can enjoy like a glamorous and puzzling parade of pictures.

Ben J. Riepe:

Ben J. Riepe, who studied at the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen and later worked with V.A. Wölfl and as a guest dancer in Pina Bausch’s Ensemble, founded his own ensemble in 2004. In March 2009 he was selected as one of four choreographers for the promotion of elites of North-Rhine-Westphalia. With his productions he is on a quest for critical and future-oriented art that transcends the viewer’s and his own artistic expectation with means that are beyond psychologisation, narration and the conventions of contemporary dance.

Ben J. Riepe and his troupe are in India to participate in the World Dance Alliance Annual Summit at New Delhi and will perform in Chennai and Hyderabad before taking the stage in Dhaka, during their South Asia tour.

For interviews with the troupe, please contact : 9243100911

As a tribute to one of India’s greatest playwrights, Vijay Tendulkar, who passed away in 2008, Ranga Shankara produced an adaptation of one his masterpieces, “Ashi Paakhare Yeti”, in Kannada. It is a play that has been performed in several Indian languages such as Hindi, Gujarati and Kannada apart from the original in Marathi. With Hakki Harutide Nodidira, Ranga Shankara taps and brings together the best of veteran and young theatre talent in Bangalore. The play premiered on July 17th 2009.

Interestingly, prominent actresses in our midst have played the role of the heroine, Saraswathi (Saru), in various languages. Arundhati Nag has essayed the role in Urdu while B Jayashree has done it in Kannada.

The play is directed by Manav Kaul from Mumbai. Manav Kaul is an actor, writer and director, who has won much acclaim for work like “Shakkar ke Paanch Daane”.

Ranga Shankara’s popular Kannada production, “Hakki Harutide Nodidira” will be performed at Ranga Shankara on Fri Nov 20th and Sat Nov 21st at 7:30 PM.

As a tribute to one of India’s greatest playwrights, Vijay Tendulkar, who passed away in 2008, Ranga Shankara produced an adaptation of one his masterpieces, “Ashi Paakhare Yeti”, in Kannada. It is a play that has been performed in several Indian languages such as Hindi, Gujarati and Kannada apart from the original in Marathi. With Hakki Harutide Nodidira, Ranga Shankara taps and brings together the best of veteran and young theatre talent in Bangalore. The play premiered on July 17th 2009.

Interestingly, prominent actresses in our midst have played the role of the heroine, Saraswathi (Saru), in various languages. Arundhati Nag has essayed the role in Urdu while B Jayashree has done it in Kannada.

The play is directed by Manav Kaul from Mumbai. Manav Kaul is an actor, writer and director, who has won much acclaim for work like “Shakkar ke Paanch Daane”.

The tickets are available at Ranga Shankara and www.indianstage.in. For more details please contact Ranga Shankara at 26493982.

Details of the performance

Name

Hakki Harutide Nodidira

Language

Kannada

Dates

Fri Nov 20 and Sat Nov 21

Time

7:30 PM

Duration

90 minutes

Venue

Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar

Age Group

Above 8 Years

Ticket Price

Rs 70

–
Ranga Shankara
36/2, 8th Cross
J P Nagar, II Phase
Bangalore – 560 078
P: 080-26493982 / 26592777
E: rstheatre@gmail.com
W: www.rangashankara.org

The tickets are available at Ranga Shankara and www.indianstage.in. For more details please contact Ranga Shankara at 26493982.

SIGNS
a series of 5 short plays in complete the story style
a Yt’angle initiative( Yours Truly angle for children)
officially launching with this show.

SHOW DETAILS
Name of Play: Signs
Duration: 2 hours
Start Time: 10:00 am
Date: November 14, 2009
Venue: ADA Ranga Mandira, JC Road, Bangalore

Ticket – Rs 50/-
To book tickets call 9845853093/9845243051

Make this children’s day a special one for your child.
Inviting children above 7 years, along with parents/relatives.

About Signs:
A series of 5-short stories performed in ‘complete the story’ interactive theatre style where children get to discuss and decide how these short stories should end. These endings are then enacted by the actors on the spot. The themes of these short stories deal with Children and their world, their happiness, success, hopes and fears. These themes cut across barriers and attempts to celebrate childhood in the true spirit.

About the initiative – Yt’angle (Yours Truly Theatre angle for Children)
Ytangle is an initiative started by Yours Truly Theatre with an attempt to reach out to children who have limited quality entertainment. These interactive theatre performances will give hildren a well deserved break from cartoon channels and video games. Children are normally under all time pressure to learn & perform, rarely do they get a chance to be just an audience. Here they get to enjoy live performance and involve themselves in the ancient story telling traditions.

–
Yours Truly Theatre
www.yourstruly-theatre.com
9845853093| 9845243051

It was indeed heartening to see the enthusiastic lineup of children just before the play, and I was also impressed that Sankar’s Cafe at Ranga Shankara also has a Readng Corner for children now. Theatre and allied activities seem to be actively encouraged at Ranga Shankara and this is a great thing to see.

“Zapperdockel and the Wock” is the story of two very different creatures, Zapperdockels being small, and the Wock being a very large being. A Zapperdockel is also a crybaby.How these two interact and learn to get along is the story of the one-hour play.

Throughout the play, I was impressed by the reaction of the children in the audience (the play blurb says it’s for children “4 and above”.) A crowd of them were also invited on to the stage, and they were clearly enjoying themselves.

Virginia and Anil Kumar (I don’t know if I got the male name right, though) were the puppeteers who brough the puppets to life, and with innovative props, excecuted a variety of tricks and capers on stage that had the children constantly amused, and, occasionally, enthralled, as when they lit a flame under a plastic bag, and sent it soaring up into the air.

Walking sticks that acted as scales, hats that filled with flour, a box that opened this way and that…the props were very inventive and creative, and the rectangle described by the ropes onstage created a stage within a stage where all the action happened.

I thoroughly enjoyed the music, too; it was composed by Kumaresh of the famous violinist duo, Ganesh and Kumaresh, and sometimes consisted of purely Carnatic renditions, sometimes percussion passages, and sometimes a violin duet…it was a delight to the ear at all times.

The puppets, made by Anurupa Roy of Kat Katha, were also lovely to behold, with several Wocks taking the stage at one time, but mostly having a blue-coloured Wock iinteracting with a littleyelllow Zapperdockel.

However, I must say that perhaps I was too old for the narrative: I could not follow the thread of the story too well, and sometimes it seemed to drag. Some of the tricks on stage seemed to really have nothing at all to do with the play at all..though perhaps, with the age of the audience tragetted, no such connection was necessary. I never felt that I had got the message that Aru gave the children just prior to the show…that the play was to show how different people can get along together.

I would like to make the point, however, that young children need not always feel that magic-type tricks and slapstick comedy are the only things that comprise theatre for children; I think they are capable of appreciating more sophisticated storylines and stagecraft than what I witnessed at Ranga Shankara yesterday. Personally, I felt that the play could have been cut short to even 40 minutes, and could have done with a more predominant, sequential thread running through it. The two Sutradhars did not always seem to have a “sutra” to convey to the audience.

Ranga Shankara is putting up four more plays as part of the fifth anniversary celebrations, for more details, please visit

http://www.rangashankara.org/

All the plays have been staged before, but are being brought back by popular demand.

Show Details : October 24th , Saturday (4:30 PM & 7:30 PM)
Contact No’s : 9880036611 & 9845017975
Online Booking: www.indianstage.in

About the Play :

[sic] takes place primarily in the doorways and shared hallway of three neighbouring apartments. Meet Theo, the desperate & edgy
amusement park ride theme music composer, the struggling and ever-broke writer Babette, and Frank, the queer, happy-go-lucky
aspiring auctioneer. See them humorously trudge through the haunting morass of everyday drudgery and the biting emptiness of big city life. Watch, as the three of them come together to discuss, flirt, argue, share their dreams and plan their futures with unequal degrees of deep hopefulness and abject despair. [sic], chosen as one of the Best American Plays of 2002, is a neurotic, bittersweet comedy about the “quarter-life crisis”, and unfolds as three lives collide in one common corridor.

The Course, launched at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2007, provides a unique opportunity to learn the essence of art appreciation by developing new ways “seeing and listening”.

Renowned culture critic Sadanand Menon will spearhead the Theatre and Arts Appreciation Course 2009. A well-known writer on critical issues of politics and culture, Sadanand Menon is also a photographer and stage light designer. He has served as the Arts Editor for The Economic Times.

The course will examine and discuss theatre, cinema, dance, photography and music over six days (spread over two weekends) through lectures, film screenings, plays, as well as interaction with directors and actors. While bringing together a host of people from different backgrounds, the course will thus look at, and analyse the formal structures of various works of art as well as consider them in the context of the historical period and cultural framework in which they were produced.

The course is open to public from the age of 16 years. The course fee is Rs. 4000 (for six days) and the fee includes lectures, film screenings and tickets to plays. The course fee for students is Rs.500. Students will have to bring their id card during booking to avail this offer.

Registrations are currently open at Ranga Shankara (from 9.30 am to 6.00 pm). As the intake for this course is limited, we request you to please hurry and book your seats in order to avoid disappointment. For more information contact us on 080-26493982 or write to rstheatre@gmail.com

Details of the Course

Dates of the Course

(6 days)

6th – 8th November and 13th – 15th November 2008

Course Fee

Rs. 4000; Students – Rs. 500.

Venue

Will be communicated later; will be in and around Ranga Shankara

Medium of instruction

English

Last day for applying

1 November 2009

Mode of application

Registrations are open at Ranga Shankara till 1 November 2009

Contact

Ranga Shankara office, 26493982

–
Ranga Shankara
36/2, 8th Cross
J P Nagar, II Phase
Bangalore – 560 078
P: 080-26493982 / 26592777
E: rstheatre@gmail.com
W: www.rangashankara.org

we are a caravan of artists who meet every month to share, create and JAM.

and now, we ask the whole city to join in!

read more on www.theatresundays.blogspot.com

theatre Jam turns one this october,

to celebrate the arts and build this movement

we are jamming, all through october

in public spaces of Bangalore.

make theatre jam, your space.

bring your story, art, medium, idea, dreams, memories, tricks…

install, improvise, perform, express

anyone can Participate in the jam activities.

pick a date in October and tell us what you want to do.

most activities will take place in public parks, streets, terraces, basements and markets.

spread the word and encourage more people to participate in the october jam.

BARE NECESSITIES

yes, indeed, we have some running costs! We roughly need about a lakh for travel for outstation artists, food, publicity, coordination, chai-pani. So if you pledged some donation to us, it would get a few things moving! Just mail us if you want to contribute at

info@maraa.in

or call us on

080-4148-8264.

You could also offer spare rooms and couches for outstation artists. food, water, travel, coffee/tea will help cut costs. we need people to shoot, update, collate and coordinate. volunteer. Get in touch.

Ranga Shankara is proud to bring back “Zapperdockel and the Wock” for five year olds and above! The play premiered at AHA! Fest ’09 and was welcomed enthusiastically by both children and adults.

The play is directed by Wally and Paul Schmidt of Salz und Pfeffer, Nuremburg, Germany. The music has been composed by Ganesh and Kumaresh and the puppets are by Anurupa Roy of Kat-katha, New Delhi.

Practical application of the Laws of Physics, a beautiful story and a brilliant presentation hold children and adults in a thrall. The play received rousing receptions in Mysore and Chennai too, when it travelled for the AHA! Fest.

Synopsis:

Zapperdockel is yellow, tiny, unsure and a crybaby. But that’s the way he is! Wock is blue, fat and grumpy. But that’s the way he is! Is there still a chance that both get along with each other? “The Zapperdockel and the Wock” is the touching story of the beginning of a friendship between two creatures that couldn’t be more different from each other.

The Zapperdockel and the Wock is written by Georg Bydlinski

Adaptation from Der Zapperdockel

Directed by Paul and Wally Schmidt

Language English

Duration 55 mins

Dates 15 and 16 Sep

Timings 7:30 PM

Tickets Rs. 100

Available at

Ranga Shankara and

www.indianstage.in

For more details please contact Ranga Shankara on 26493982 or visit our website on www.rangashankara.org

ART

BY

YASMINA REZA

Art, a French play written by Yasmina Reza, adapted in English, by Christopher Hampton, is a play, that revolves around three diverse and minimalist products of human nature. Three characters, aesthetes in their own right, questioning their individual prejudices against each other.

Serge, a modernist, a puritan, but an afterthought of delusion. Marc, characterized by the epitome of self-acclaim and classicist snobbery and Ivan, an oblivious leaf, which flows in whichever direction the wind blows.

The three friends collide subtly into each others’ perspective and push each other into an overwhelmed sense of egoistic urge towards moral self defense, bringing out the extremes of human nature in the most sublime of ways. The simplistic portrayal of a relationship severed at the seams, encompassing Art as its supposed to be, universal and conflicting.

natural players , differential lighting and apt music makes art a worth while watch .( all this plus a not so creative tribute to Michael jackson)

Venue: alliance francaise, Bangalore

Date: 18th september 2009 [friday]

Timing: 3: 30 and 7: 30

Tickets: rs 100

online ticketing : www.cultbangalore.com

Contact : 9632824253

Email: cultbangalore@gmail.com

Presents

“BRIEF CANDLE”

In support of India Foundation for the Arts

(A new play by Mahesh Dattani, Produced and Directed by Lillete Dubey)

Cast: Joy Sengupta, Amar Talwar, Suchitra Pillai, Zafar Karachiwala, Manasi Parekh and Satchit Puranik

Venue: Chowdiah Memorial Hall

Date: 6th September, 09 : Time: 3.30 PM and 7.30 PM

Duration: 1hour 25 min

Language: English

‘Brief Candle’ is a play that addresses mortality yet highlights life, that emphasises the importance of the quality of our lives rather than how long we live it.

The play is a hilarious farce with some extremely funny situations revolving around a hotel room near the airport. As the characters in the play await their departures, which are delayed due to a storm, they end up in comic situations, as they entangle themselves in surreptitious dalliances and complicated love affairs.

As they rehearse the play however, all the characters, including the inmates, the doctor and the hospital aide, discover similarities between themselves and the characters they are playing. It is clear that the dead playwright is speaking to them. The metaphor of arrivals and departures representing life and death, leaves them with a reflection of their own struggles and needs, and a realization of their brief time on this earth. On the day of the performance, the playwright appears, and a love story unfolds that crosses time, space, life and death.

It is a poignant tale – tragic, humorous, farcical and finally elevating.

Associate Sponsor – HSBC, Hospitality Partner – Chancery Pavilion, Airline Partner – Kingfisher Airlines, Ground Partner – Cafe Coffee Day, Online Partners – www.indianstage.in and www.indiaplaza.in

The funds raised through this performance will be used by IFA to continue its grant-making in the arts.

Limited Donor passes available for Rs 2000/- and Rs.1000/-. Call Joyce at 2341 4681/82/83 between 10 am to 5 pm or email joyce@indiaifa.org.

Exciting Offer: All ‘Friends of IFA’ get a 10% discount on tickets. Call Menaka from August 17th onwards at 2341 4681/82/83 or email her at menaka@indiaifa.org for details.

You can book online at www.indianstage.in and also at www.indiaplaza.in from 20th Aug onwards.

Passes for Rs 500/- will be available from August 20th onwards at the following Cafe Coffee Day outlets.

Jayanagar – Garla Garnet, Phone: 65391012

Koramangala – BPCL, Phone: 64541184

Indiranagar, 100 Ft. Road, Phone: 64528290

CMH Road, Phone: 64541168

Lavelle Road, Phone: 64511535

Malleswaram, Phone: 64511532

Sadashivnagar, Phone: 64511537

Brigade Road, Windsor House, Phone: 64541160

Super Market , 5th Avenue, Brigade Road, Phone: 25581248/25580392