Dramanon, the young theatre group of Bangalore, is staging “Alarms and Excursions” on Feb 5th & 6th at Ranga Shankara.

About Alarms and Excursions:

Alarms and Excursions by Michael Frayn, is both farcical and comic. The play comprises of two playlets that share a central theme: a humorous & critical commentary on disconnection between people. The play explores the obtuse humor in our off the hook, disconnected relationships with ourselves and with each other – and the resulting tragic-comedy of such a set up.

The first playlet “Doubles” involves two couples who check into identical hotel rooms next to each other. Their rooms, which are mirror images of each other, are separated by thin walls. Through the play, we slowly discover that the only thing that eventually separates them is not the physical wall between the rooms, but the invisible walls between each other.

The second playlet “Immobiles,” is an exposé of human disconnection in a world without mobile phones. A frustrated couple tries to coordinate a proper meeting place using an answering machine and coin operated phone booths for their foreign friend when he arrives at the airport. Broken bones and broken hearts are the result of this techno faux pas.

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3rd feb-

‘common man’ (Complete the story)

Ranga Shankara, JP nagar

1 show:7.30pm

*

22th feb

‘valentines special’ (Playback theatre)

Nayana, within ravindra kalakshetra premises, next to townhal, JC road

2 shows: 5pm and 7pm

*

28th Feb

‘Bhagwaan dundoo’ (Complete the story)

Nayana, within ravindra kalakshetra premises, next to townhal, JC road

1 show:7pm

*

1st March

‘common man’ (Complete the story)

Nayana, within ravindra kalakshetra premises, next to townhal, JC road

2 shows:5pm and 7pm

*

For tickets – JUST PICK UP YOUR PHONE AND FOR TICKETS CALL
9845243051/ 9845853093 or open your mailbox and mail us at yourstrulytheatre@ gmail.com.
Don’t forget to visit www.yourstruly- theatre.com

Yours Truly Theatre has been invited to perform at International Theatre festival to be held at Armenia in Sep 2009. This invitation came after one of the organizers saw the play Common Man performed at Bangalore last year.

The Bangalore School of Speech and Drama staged Mozart Chocolates’, a play written by Dr.Ketaki Kushari Dyson and directed by Dr.Zulfia Shaikh, who also took on the role of the main character, Ila. This was the premiere of the translation of the Bengali play.

The synopsis of the play goes thus:

Play Synopsis:

On a rainy day which has brought floods, Ila, a Bengali woman living in England, is folding and re-arranging the saris that have accumulated over the years in her wardrobe. Her friend Lipi arrives and they discuss an eclectic range of subjects including the hollowness of academic jargon, the state of women in ancient and modern times and chocolates !

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Evam, the talented young theatre group from Chennai, celebrates the witty, flamboyant Wilde with his most successful play, “The Importance of Being Earnest”.

The very beginning of ‘long lost brothers’, the prototype for ‘duplicate identities’ and the mother of all happy, light-hearted stereotypes. :) During this time of economic backlash, recession and stress, take a vacation to the world of Wilde. Prepare to smile, be charmed and take back a romantic comedy that leaves you happy and laughing with it or at it. :)
This Christmas, We are eager to bring to stage, Wilde’s most Controversial work, a hundred year old script that inspires story-tellers and movie makers till date.

December 25th @ Chowdiah Memorial Hall Bangalore.
Shows @ 3.30pm and 7.30pm
Tickets Rs. 500, 300 and 150.
For Early Bird Discount BLOCK TICKETS NOW at www.evam.in
Tickets also available at Landmark(Forum Mall), Crossword(Residency Road) and Blossoms(Church Street).
‘I can resist everything except temptation.’
– once again Oscar Wilde

Here’s the article that I wrote about Evam in Metblogs:

http://bangalore.metblogs.com/2007/02/22/sunil-evam-karthik-in-bangalore/#more

Ranga Chitra, a day of film screenings on travelling theatre, is scheduled to be held at Ranga Shankara on 4 November at 2.00 pm and 7.30 pm. The screenings are a part of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival ’08 which pays tribute to Company Theatre, which dominated the Indian stage in the early part of the 20th Century.

Six films will be screened as part of Ranga Chitra including Naveen Kishore’s Performing the Goddess: The Chapal Bhaduri Story; Ariane Mnouckine’s Molière; M S Sathyu’s Gubbi Company; K Madhusudhanan’s Maya Bazaar – The Survival of a 120-year-old Theatre Family and Anand Gupt’s The Role of Theatre Brochures. Envisaged as theatrical journeys with the repertory companies, five of the selected films examine the life and art of traveling actors in France and across India (in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal). One film showcases one of the most durable artifacts of what is truly an ephemeral art: the theatre brochure.

Ranga Chitra will be screened in two sessions on 4 Nov (Session 1: 2:00 to 5:30 pm; Session 2: 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm). Admission to the film screenings is free. Entry passes are available at the Ranga Shankara ticket counter from 10 am – 12.30 pm and 5.00 – 7.30 pm (all days).

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Ranga Shankara and InKo Centre, Chennai present Choon-Hyang (True Love), a world-class Korean play in English on 22 October & 23 October at 7.30 pm. This is a part of Ranga Shankara’s Theatre For Children program AHA!, that is supported by Britannia Industries Limited.

Choon-Hyang has played to great acclaim in New York, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Singapore and will play in Bangalore as part of their India tour.

Written and directed by Kevin Kim, Choon-Hyang tells the traditional Korean story of a young girl named Choon-Hyang. A heart-warming tale, it has been passed down orally in Korea for centuries. Choon-Hyang will transport the audience to the magic of ancient Korea through music, dance and the sheer exuberance of its young actors! This acclaimed production by Theatre Seoul stars 19 young Koreans between 9 and 18 years of age.

Another major highlight of the play is that the costumes have been created exclusively from traditional Korean Hanji paper, which is known for extraordinary strength and elasticity. The designs and colours that have been created in this paper for the costumes are amazing and one of its kind.

Tickets are priced at Rs. 200. Online booking is available at www.bookmyshow.com. Like always, Ranga Shankara has organized two shows exclusively for schools, on the mornings of 23 Oct and 24 Oct. Schools can reach out on 26493982 or aha.rangashankara@gmail.com for more details. (more…)

“ALARMS & EXCURSIONS” – More Plays than One

At

Rangashankara , J.P.Nagar

October 8th & 9th (Both days at 7:30 PM)

Telebooking : 9845017975 (Rs 150/Ticket)

Online Booking : www.indianstage.in

Ticket Outlets : Rangashankara, K.C Das, St. Mark’s Rd,

Blossom Book House, Church Street

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Ranga Shankara announces its first internship programme during its upcoming Theatre Festival 2008. Applications are invited from interested candidates before 24 September 2008.

Since its commencement in 2004, the annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festivals have brought the best of Indian and international theatre to Bangalore. This year’s Festival will provide six interns the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of how a theatre works and to work with India’s leading theatre professionals in a positive and energised environment.

The Festival Internships run for 45 full days, starting on 1 October 2008 and concluding on 15 November 2008. The internships are open to graduates available to work full time for the 45-day period. Graduates in Journalism, Mass Communication and Event Management are especially encouraged to apply. Certificates will be issued to the interns on completion of the internship. The internship is an unpaid position.

The philosophy of the programme is to have interns work with the staff and theatre practitioners on a daily basis in preparation for the Annual Theatre Festival, observing practical applications of skills required in theatre and festival administration and applying those skills to assigned tasks.

Through this exposure to theatre professionals at work—and to their audiences—interns will learn what a Theatre Festival means to the life of a community, and how the life of a community enriches its theatre. Interns will, thus, experience the rewards and challenges associated with producing theatre in the professional theatre community. While every effort is made to make internships a valuable educational experience, interns are expected to perform a variety of tasks, not all of which will be glamorous.

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“The First Leaf”, a special play for children in English, will be staged at Ranga Shankara from 26-28 August 2008 at 7.30 pm.

“The First Leaf” is a production of AHA! Ranga Shankara’s Theatre for Children initiative. Padmavati Rao, who has previously served as Assistant Director on Shankar Nag’s popular TV serial, Malgudi Days, directs the play. The translation into English from the original by Shrirang Godbole is by the director. Padmavati has also co-directed AHA!’s other production “Gumma Banda Gumma” in Kannada.

Music for “The First Leaf” is by Bhavataarini, daughter of the famous composer, Ilayaraja.

This play opened in December last year to an appreciative audience of children and adults. Till date, over 6200 children have enjoyed the play through the Deccan Herald’s Newspaper in Education programme.

“The First Leaf” tells the inspiring story of Putti, her brother Dodu and friend Chinna who live in a time of imminent environmental catastrophe, which is as real as today and looms as close as tomorrow. The three young students explore their surroundings through fantasy and fun with the new tenant in their residential complex, who breathes new meaning into all he touches and encounters. The lesson ultimately learnt is one of protecting Plant Earth.

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India Foundation for the Arts today presented “Antaryatra” (“The Journey Within the Self”), directed and performed by Usha Ganguli, at Ranga Shankara.

The play was a self-referential one; Usha has led the theatre group, “Rangakarmee”, for about 25 years now. She spoke of her experiences as an actress (sorry, actor is the pc word to use, but here, the word has a specific gender meaning!)…and of her journey from the very first nervous day at the theatre, through the various roles she has enacted, as well as the many women she had come into contact with…all of which has shaped her life. As she said, “If I had learnt it in a school, I would not have learnt so much, or been moulded so much…”

Usha slipped in and out of the sutradhar’s part, and in and out of the characters of either the women in the plays, or the women in her life, effortlessly. Her mobile face expressed every emotion beautifully; that mobility allowed me to gloss over the couple of occasions when she fluffed her lines (and surely it must be a very difficult task to sustain a monologue for 75 minutes non-stop!).

The dramatization opened with memories of Kolkata…and being a Kolkata-childhood person myself, I empathized perfectly. Her training in classical dance informed her movements on stage, and they were fluid and graceful, and it was a delight to watch her for this reason alone, if not for her emoting!

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